Join Our Boys Trust launches annual Christmas Present Day in memory of Archie Naughton

Roscommon parents Paula and Padraic Naughton are asking for the public's help to support the completion of the garden and external areas of their house as well as fund the on-going search for a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD.)

They have issued a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the 2021 Christmas Present Day in support of Join Our Boys Trust. The support from this fundraising campaign in 2021 finally enabled the Naughton family to move into their purpose-built home in Roscommon town.

Now the focus is on finding a cure for this terrible disease for George, Isaac and all children suffering from DMD. Sadly, their beloved older brother Archie (16) lost his battle with DMD and passed away on July 7. Archie’s dying wish was to find a cure to save his younger brothers.

In 2012, when Archie was six and the twins George and Isaac were two and a half, all three boys were diagnosed with DMD.

DMD is a catastrophic muscle wasting disease which has already impacted on the boys’ ability to walk, use their limbs, or even hug the people they love. Those who live until their late teens are likely to become totally paralyzed and will eventually die of respiratory and or heart failure. George and Isaac are paralysed and in wheelchairs. They are now struggling to use their arms.

The Join Our Boys Trust was set up in 2014 following a conversation with a consultant in Temple Street Children’s Hospital who advised the family to ‘go home and love their children’.

The aim of the “Join Our Boys Trust” is twofold

- To fund research into finding a cure for DMD disease

- To complete a purpose-built house that will accommodate the family for as long as they require it

Since the “Join Our Boys Trust” was established, enough money has been raised to build the house in Roscommon Town. The proceeds from this fundraiser will help find a treatment, ideally a cure for DMD and support the ongoing objectives of the Trust. The funds will also help complete the garden and external areas of the house to a comfortable level for George and Isaac to enjoy.

Everyone can help find a cure for DMD and fulfil Archie’s dying wish by donating a ‘Christmas Present’ to the boys at www.joinourboys.org