Schools

Volunteers Make Dream Come True for Young Man Living with Debilitating Muscle Disease

Daniel Raksakun, who is diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, graduates from the Enumclaw School District special education program this summer but not before getting a ride in a 1967 Mustang convertible.

In part to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, Enumclaw High School special education teacher Bev Shorter asked her students to write their own "I Have a Dream" speech.

Daniel Raksakun, who has severe Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair-bound, wrote the following:

"I have a dream to get out of my chair and drive a 1965 Mustang convertible."

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Perhaps it was because this particular dream could actually be made to come true, Shorter couldn't let go of that possibility since the assignment. 

This was Daniel's last year in the program; he turns 21 this summer. ”It just hit me really hard ... we can do this for him. We can make this come true.”

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Shorter reached out to the greater community asking to see who might have this type of vehicle and would be willing to help fulfill Daniel's wish.

It didn't take long. Gayl Hinshaw, a retired principal from the Enumclaw School District, in fact, had a 1967 Mustang convertible.

Hinshaw was more than happy to drive Daniel to school on his last day yesterday, where he was greeted by a wall of his fellow students cheering him on as he arrived.

"He was smiling from ear to ear," Shorter said. "He knew about the ride, but I don't think he knew she was going to bring him to the high school - plus having the whole crowd cheering for him ... it was just perfect for him." 

Shorter emphasized the generosity of the community when she first reached out for help. “It kind of goes to show how much this community pulls together," she said.

Daniel is not only saying goodbye to his special education family, but because he will be of legal age soon, he will also be leaving the Enumclaw Ashley House where he has been a resident since he came to the Plateau from the Shoreline School District in April 2009.

"I want this to be all about this exceptional young man," she wrote in an email to Patch. "He is going through some major changes in his life right now, plus he is at a point in his disease that time is not on his side. I just wanted to make one of his dreams come true." 

Duchenne is one of the most rapidly accelerating types of muscular dystrophy, Shorter said. According to Cure Duchenne, a national non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and funds to find a cure, most boys who have the disease don't survive beyond their mid-twenties.

It progresses in spurts, Shorter said, affecting every muscle and major organ. 


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