A Merseyside soft play centre is calling on the public help celebrate the birthday of a boy who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and raise awareness of the condition.

William Magee from Prenton initially wanted to mark his sixth birthday with a party at New Brighton’s Bubbles’ World of Play however, due to the genetic, terminal, muscle wasting condition, it could be detrimental to his health.

Having heard about William through a ‘Savewilliam’ Facebook page set up by his mum, Kelly Magee, to raise awareness and funds for treatment, Bubbles’ World of Play has put its weight behind a campaign asking people to send cards for his 19 August birthday, as opening birthday cards is one of William’s favourite things to do.

In addition, Bubbles’ World of Play is also planning a private surprise party after hours for William and 40 of his family and friends so that he can enjoy his time at the indoor play area safely.

Peter Collard, general manager at Bubbles’, says: “When we saw Kelly’s post about William’s birthday, we knew this was something we wanted to help with. Duchenne MD is a very difficult condition, and we can’t begin to imagine how hard things must be for Kelly, so we wanted to do all we could to help William enjoy a memorable birthday.

“William loves to open cards so we’ve reached out to our 20,000 Facebook followers to ask them to send birthday cards to Bubbles’. We’ve had a massive response already, with people from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Brazil promising to send cards, so we hope we receive some from far off because that would be really exciting for William.”

Children suffering from Duchenne MD often lose the ability to walk between the ages of eight and 12, and then they quickly lose the use of their upper body muscles. The heart and diaphragm can also be affected in children as young as 10.
Kelly Magee adds: “I am overwhelmed with the support from everyone. I constantly worry about what will happen in the future, but life is all about making memories and we know that this birthday is a memory we all will never forget. I am so touched by everyone passionately caring for William, and all the generosity from the staff at Bubbles’.

“We’re definitely going to keep all the cards, and we expect we’ll receive about 1,000 in total. I will definitely need to think about where I’m going to store them all!”

To send a card to William, post it to: William Magee, Bubbles World of Play, Marine Point, Kings Parade, New Brighton, CH45 2PB. Alternatively, you can drop the cards off at the soft play centre.

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