1 in 3,500 male children are born every year with a disease called Muscular Dystrophy also commonly known as MD. Senior Emerson Bishop is one of these individuals that was born with MD.

Transition coordinator Kim Branaman has taught students with Muscular Dystrophy before and she has became educated about the disease.

“It’s a disease of the muscle. Eventually they lose muscle tone as they do that, they need to ramp up other supports for the muscles,” said Branaman.

Because Branaman has experience with Muscular Dystrophy, Branaman has been able to acquire a lot knowledge on the disease itself.

“It really has to do with the muscle tone because slowly you’ll get to where you’re losing the ability of movement it really matters on how quickly it progresses but it slowly starts affecting if you can walk, run, or crawl all of that jazz you slowly lose muscle tone,” said Branaman.

Bishop knows the positives of his high school career, yet still recognizes some of the experiences he is not able to enjoy like some of the other students.

“Others can play sports but I can’t play them anymore, like I wanted to play football but I can’t anymore it got worse and then like you can go to the lake and ride jet ski’s and I can’t,” said Bishop.

Branaman has worked closely with Bishop and knows how he acts and how he goes through his day. She knows that Bishop does not give up.

“He’s pretty tenacious when he wants something so where there’s a will there’s a way and he communicates really well with us so once we know what the issue is we can kinda help him deal with,” said Branaman.

Muscular Dystrophy can have more than just negative physical effects, it can also take a toll on the emotions of anybody. Having the inability to move most parts of the body with the muscles  deteriorating can be sometimes stressful on an individual’s mind. At first Bishop believed that he would have to abandon the activities that he was comfortable doing, then his parents explained a valuable lesson to him.

“I gave up at first then my parents taught me to never give up about having a disease,” said Bishop.

Senior Noah Durham recognizes that Bishop’s life is much tougher than some may think,he recognizes the issues of Bishop’s disease.

“I just felt really bad for him it’s really unfair to him and everybody with MD,” said Durham.

Durham helps assist for certain activities that he realizes that Bishop may have trouble doing by himself.

“Well it’s just tough for him to get around and he can’t really get in my car or anything at the pasta feeds and stuff or at a buffet he can’t really get his own food so I get it for him at the pasta feeds on thursdays,”said Durham.

Bishop does not let that stress get to his head anymore, he still stays hopeful knowing that there is a cure for Muscular Dystrophy.

“There have been some cures but it’s been difficult for us to get the medicine, so we are trying to fight for that and win those battles,” said Bishop.

Despite the fact that these cures are difficult to get a hold of, Bishop still stays strong and tries to keep positive day in day out despite the daily challenges he faces.

“Not being able to move as fast or get around as fast as other people it’s kind of a pain to get around because I have to go side to side instead of just standing up and walking through,” said Bishop.

A way Bishop keeps the stress out of his mind and enjoys his high school time is by joining the football team for practices and at games.

“The football team took him in. They are really nice to him let him hang around at practice and do whatever he needs to do to help out with the practice. It’s really nice that he’s around,” said senior Noah Durham.

The daily struggle that Bishop goes through everyday can be more than most people, but he’s learned how to make the most out of his high school experience.

“I got along with everybody last year. I decided to join the football too, because it’s my senior year why not have some fun” said Bishop.

Muscular Dystrophy has affected many lives and is sometimes difficult to deal with, but Bishop does not let his disease get to his head. He stays positive and lives his life as if nothing has ever changed.