Community Rallies Around Family With Three Boys Who Each Have Rare Form Of Muscular Dystrophy
Nov 29, 2018, 7:49 PM | Updated: 9:16 pm
AMERICAN FORK, Utah — One by one, Mark Honey picks up each of his three sons out of their electric wheelchairs and then loads the wheelchairs in a trailer they pull behind. It’s a good 15 minute process anytime they go out together as a family.
“Joshua is 15, Andrew is 14 and Anthony is 12,” Honey said.
Each boy is afflicted with a rare genetic form of Muscular Dystrophy. “Duchenne is the most lethal unfortunately, so their life expectancy is late teens to early 20’s, Richie made it to age 24,” he added.
The Honey’s oldest son Richie passed away from the same condition three years ago.
Their next four children born were not affected. “But our last three boys also have muscular dystrophy,” he said.
So being full time caregivers of three special needs sons can be exhausting, especially the bigger they get, as Mark has to physically lift them in and out of their car.
“I was like wow, how do you do this every single day?” said Penny Chincay, a neighbor, who in recent weeks was brainstorming a way to get the family a wheelchair accessible van, to make transportation much easier.
“I love the Honeys, they are awesome people, they love their boys, they love their family, they are great parents,” she added.
Working with a local car dealer, Shamrock Auto Group, Penny started a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of $25,000 to buy them the special van and the response so far has been overwhelming.
“So to have people come in and say we are doing this for you, it is really humbling, it really is,” said Sharon Honey, the boys’ mother, a sentiment echoed by their father. ‘A lot of people we don’t even know, it’s incredible, it’s amazing,” Mark Honey said.
And with their goal in sight, neighbors hope to deliver a gift in time for Christmas to the Honeys, bigger than anything they’ve ever had under their tree. If you would like to join the effort, you can learn more at: https://www.gofundme.com/help-the-honeys-for-the-holidays
