TELETHON SUCCESS; CHILDREN WITH MUSCULAR DISEASES BENEFIT

Leslie Thorne, 11, joked around with her brother, William, 12, while their family took a break from the Muscular Dystrophy Association's 35th annual telethon Monday. William, who learned he had muscular dystrophy when he was 7, said he is a lot like other kids. He dreams of being a singer when he grows up.

Twelve-year-old William Thorne is like most boys his age.

He goes to his seventh-grade classes every day, playfully picks on his younger sisters, probably spends too much time with his video games and aspires to go to college.

Those are the things William, who has muscular dystrophy, wants people to know about him.

"I'm no different than anyone else," he says. "I'm the same kid I used to be. I'm just a lot weaker, but I can still do the same things other kids do."

William was one of about a dozen people who were treated to a lunch of cheeseburgers and all the fixings Monday afternoon at Lowe's Home Improvement Center, 3440 Lowe's Drive, during the 35th annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.

KFVS-12 broadcast local segments from the greenhouse area of the store.

Locally, the telethon generated $362,175 for the MDA -- about $20,000 more than last year, officials said. Nationally, a record $54.6 million in MDA pledges and contributions was raised.

The MDA supports research on more than 40 neuromuscular disorders and funds clinics throughout the country, including adult and pediatric clinics at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Lori Dobbs, program services director for the local MDA chapter, said 82 cents of every dollar donated to the association is used for research and resources for those who have the disease.

"We fund clinics, provide wheelchairs, braces and camps, and organize support groups, among other things," she said.

"We rely solely on personal and business donations. We get no government funds. This telethon is our biggest fund-raising event of the year."

William, who lives in Perryville, Mo., was diagnosed with MD when he was 3 years old after his family noticed his walk was not quite right. He didn't start using a wheelchair until he was 7 when it became more difficult for him to walk.

"I would be running and would go from side to side and lean back and forth," William says. "The kids used to make fun of me and say I looked funny."

But neither the wheelchair, nor his classmates' teasing, has stopped William, who can swim, play kickball during physical education class and wants to be a singer when he's older.

In fact, William says he hopes to perform songs composed by his 11-year-old sister, Leslie, who writes love songs "mostly girl stuff."

Carl Renfrow, 44, understands William's desire to not be treated differently.

Renfrow was diagnosed with MD about three years ago after it became more and more difficult for him to climb the stairs to his third-floor apartment in New Madrid, Mo.

A doctor diagnosed him with a hereditary form of dystrophy that likely will affect his organs some day.

"It's frustrating," he said. "The things you used to do, you can't do. I used to snow ski. I used to scuba dive. There's no way in the world I can do it anymore."

Renfrow said, "The things you take for granted one week, you can't do the next week. Some days, my muscles don't agree with me. I'll be standing, and I just fall. And once I fall, I can't get up."

Like William, Renfrow says he sometimes becomes aggravated by others' perceptions of him and his condition.

"There's no mass to my arms and legs," he said. "I'm skinny. People mistake it for AIDS."

He explained that the bad thing is that there is no cure.

Renfrow said, "The doctor says, Well, you have myotonic muscular dystrophy. There's no medication. There's nothing we can do. Come back and see me in a year.'"

Meanwhile, William, who will turn 13 later this month, fiddles with his empty root beer can and nods in agreement with Renfrow.

William's mom, Sonya, brings him a piece of cake and says her son hates being singled out because of the MD.

"He's a normal boy," she said. "It drives him nuts for people to think he's different. He always says, 'I'm not handicapped. I just use a wheelchair.'"