Tripp is six years old and absolutely full of life. He is a self-described factoid man with an encyclopedic love of animals and a laugh that carries across any yard.

He doesn't know he has DMD yet. And right now, that's exactly how it should be. He deserves the full, unguarded joy of being six, and he has it. He runs. He plays. He is here, fully and joyfully. When he starts asking bigger questions, we'll answer them honestly. But the disease will never define him, and we are determined that his story won't follow the path that diagnosis alone might suggest.

What we do know is that his specific mutation places him within a smaller group still. Children whose genetic profile is rare even within DMD, sitting outside the reach of the treatments that have brought hope to many other families. The window when early intervention can make the greatest difference is now.

His diagnosis moved us to act, not just for him, but for every child in the DMD community whose mutation leaves them waiting for science to catch up. We are hopeful, genuinely and stubbornly hopeful, that the work of this foundation and the researchers it supports will help bend the trajectory of what DMD "normally" looks like, for Tripp and for every child who comes after him.

Tripp is the reason this foundation exists. Every child like him is the reason it will keep going.