A MUM from Newton Abbot and three friends have completed a challenge in the Lake District in aid of Muscular Dystrophy UK. 

Liz Keenan, 46, is mum to three boys who all have the  muscle wasting disease.

She and her friends Sue, Becky and Becky’s dad Stuart, took on the Pedal Paddle Peak challenge which involved a 30-mile cycle, two-mile canoe paddle and a 10mile hike to the peak of Helvellyn mountain. 

Liz Keenan and her team complete the Muscular Dystrophy UK challenge.
Liz Keenan with friends  Becky, Sue and Stuart at the peak of Helvellyn (MDA Muscular Dystrophy UK )

The team completed the challenge for the charity which supports 110,000 adults and children in the UK including Liz’s three sons, James, 17, and twins Joshua and Myles,10, who live with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. 

The team smashed their £2,000 target, raising £4,220.

Fundraising for Muscular Dystrophy UK is something Liz, husband Sean and the family have been involved in for 10 years, following their eldest son’s diagnosis.

In 2013, Liz and Sean took James, then seven, for a blood test after noticing changes to his core strength. 

Liz explained: ‘Doctors initially put it down to him being a slow developer but when he began struggling to get up from the floor and had significant muscle weakness, he was sent for blood tests. That same evening, we received a phone call to report high Creatine Kinase levels and, after meeting a consultant, we learnt James had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive muscle wasting condition.’

Shortly after, Liz gave birth to twin boys, Joshua and Myles, who also have the condition. 

Now 17 and 10 respectively, the boys live with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and with the help of family, friends and colleagues, Liz and Sean have raised more than £100,000 through their Muscular Dystrophy UK family fund, ‘I Fight for James’. 

Pedal Paddle Peak was the latest fundraiser in a long list of challenges, which have involved skydiving and zip wire challenges, running the Oxford 10k and London Marathon.

This challenge started in Penrith with a 15-mile cycle followed by a two-mile canoe paddle on Ullswater Lake then cycle to the base of Helvellyn , climbing to the mountain peak, before the final 15-mile pedal back to Penrith.