Tonya Dreher made it through a serious health crisis with breast cancer, including multiple surgeries and extensive treatment. On the day her treatment ended, she thought she was out of the woods. But the next morning, she and her husband, Steve, received test results for their youngest son, Gus, and had to face yet another devastating diagnosis.

When Gus was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative progressive muscle wasting disease, Tonya and Steve started a non-profit to raise money to fund research. But after a few years, Tonya wanted to do something bigger.

So, she put a team together, and with only 8 months of training, she flew halfway around the world to test her physical and emotional strength by climbing to base camp of Mount Everest. She wasn’t an athlete, but she wanted to climb in honor of her son and all the other boys who can’t.

Fueled by determination and a fierce love for Gus, Tonya pushed herself beyond anything she’d ever done before, making it to base camp and reading the names of hundreds of boys with Duchenne into the wind.

Tonya says her journey changed her. She not as afraid as she used to be and she feels better equipped to handle what comes her way. And she believes anyone can do it....using grief and heartache as a path to bravery and boldness.

For information on joining Tonya’s team for her next climb, contact her at: [email protected]

Check out our website for more info on Duchenne and how we’re changing the world: www.teamjoseph.org.

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