POYNETTE, Wis. — Kelly Fitzpatrick is a single mother in the rural town of Poynette, Wis. For her, every day the morning routine is a challenge.
Her 13-year-old son Connor has a chronic condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).
DMD is a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness and degeneration.
Fitzpatrick first noticed something was wrong with Connor in 2017, when he was just 5-years-old.
“Just kind of a refusal to do things,” Fitzpatrick recalled. “I’m like, ‘Why does my 5-year-old, who doesn’t play sports, who hardly even walks, have such large calf muscles?’”
Shortly after Connor’s diagnosis, Fitzpatrick learned that her two other sons also have DMD.
All three of her sons — Connor, 12-year-old Kian and 9-year-old Finn — were diagnosed with the life-altering condition before they each turned 5-years.
“What made it really hard was not just one, but all of your kids have this,” Fitzpatrick said. “Then being told, ‘There’s no hope. There’s no cure. And you should think about not having any more kids.’”
She said she had to give up her career as a dental hygienist to dedicate herself to her sons’ daily needs.
“I never thought of it as a struggle,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just looked at it like, ‘This is what we need to do,’ and it’s caused me to be very creative, and just kind of pivot and keep moving.”
As she raises her boys, she said she holds onto hope that a cure can be found. And, she holds on to her support system.
“I think it’s realizing I can’t do this all by myself, and it does take a village,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m only one person, so it is needing more understanding, more support. I think people are afraid. They don’t know how to help sometimes and sometimes I don’t even have answers. For me, it’s just trying to find a way to support my family in a better way…”
She said she is focused on raising awareness and educating others about this chronic disease.
“There’s a community and you may beat this disease because of how advanced science is,” she said.