User:Zaroth

Real Life short summary

Early life: 1993-1999

Tony Smith was born prematurely on August 24th 1993, at Mill Road hospital in Liverpool, England. He stayed in hospital for a few weeks in an incubater but was soon allowed to go home with his family and a well-deserved break from hospital life. He lived across the road from one of his aunts and the rest of the family didn't live far away, so he got to know his family fairly well, fairly quickly, and had a brother by the time he was 3. He was gaming from the young age of 5, thought not very well and quite confused to the whole idea of it. However, Tony was not as physically active as other children, and his mother knew there was something wrong. Each time he was taken for tests, no problems were found and this was dismissed as "Flat feet". At age 6, doctors performed a biopsy on a leg muscle and he was finally diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease which attacks the muscles over time, and survival past 20 years is rare.

Fighting the Illness: 1999-2006

Tony's parents were advised not to inform him of his condition, and to carry on as normal. The family went home and never spoke of it to Tony again, until years later, when he found out by reading a letter hidden in the kitchen of their new house that they had recently moved in to. Tony began to rage in school and at home for months, and his family did not know why, until, after a particularly upsetting incident in 2005, Tony explained his feelings and how he had found out, and vowed to learn to control his anger, and finally accepted his terminal condition in a quest to enjoy the rest of his life. Later this year, Tony met his new consultant in Alder Hey hospital, Dr Stefan Spinty, an expert on DMD who Tony greatly respected and who became a supporting figure to the family.