Star readers take Clark to their hearts as fundraising passes £6,600 (From St Helens Star)

PICTURES: Star readers take Clark Doyle to their hearts as fundraising passes £6,600

6:00pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News

A FUNDRAISING drive for an adorable five-year-old boy who suffers from a devastating muscle-wasting condition has proved a massive hit with Star readers.

The appeal for Clark Doyle has amassed more than £6,600 inside a month. It follows two fundraisers at B&Q St Helens and a skydive by his mother, Katy.

Along with husband, Mike, 31, she is desperate to find a cure for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which their son was diagnosed with 18 months ago.

The disease – which four-old Jack Johnson, son of ex-Wigan rugby league player Andy, also suffers from - causes muscles to weaken and waste over time, leading to increasingly severe disability and significantly shortened life-expectancy.

Katy, 30, appealed to Star readers to back the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Make Today Count event last month – the story featured on our front page.

Since then the donations have poured in, with bucket collections at B&Q, where Katy works, raising £3,600.

Clark, a pupil at Thatto Heath Primary School, was star of the show, as he dressed up as his favourite superhero, Batman.

Katy followed that up by joining 100 people around the UK for a skydive in recognition of the 100 children born each year with the condition.

The mother-of-two, who lives at Waterside Village, off Lowfield Lane, said: “ Clark couldn’t believe that his mum was jumping out of a plane.

“But he thought the fundraisers were one big party for him.

“I think people have taken him to their hearts – and they have been really generous.”

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Duchenne Research Breakthrough Fund was set up to provide funding for leading scientists working on promising potential treatments.