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We did something...something huge and massive and game changing…

 

and now we have one more step. It's time for Music Heals 10!

 

Did you know Music Heals has raised $435,000? Since you know me so well, you can tell where I am going with this right?

 

I remember sitting with a colleague in March 2012. Emery had just been discharged after 2 months at Sick Kids. The diagnosis of #DuchenneMuscularDystrophy was causing my heart to stop whenever I would try to say those three words. #DMD was the best I could do. Fatal, muscle wasting, hideous monster of a disease was what my body felt every time I said Duchenne. My colleague asked me what I was going to do. I had no idea, but couldn’t stand the thought of saying nothing, so I murmured:

 

Raise a lot of money. Change the world. Try. 

 

Last year, I was nervous about Music Heals, after the pandemic had kept us apart for three years, while feeling the pressure we all feel, all the time, with work, life, inflation, you name it. But I put out the call for your time, money and support, and you showed up…man did you show up!

 

And so it’s time to do this again, with gusto, like Emery and all the boys with Duchenne are depending on us. Time to have some good laughs and a few tears too, time to listen to #UnitedSoulNations and Lily & the J’s belt the night away, time to do some shopping (we went online with the auction last year and are repeating for another amazing shopping experience!). But most of all, it’s time to take a moment to celebrate. 

 

Music Heals helped fund the Givinostat drug trial at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.  Emery was part of the trial. The goal was to slow the progression of the disease, maintain ambulation for longer and decrease inflammation.

 

It worked.

 

It’s been FDA approved. We have to get this to Canada (rules rules rules!). Music Heals helped make it happen.

 

Remember last year when Emery got all nervous on stage? Well, he’s giving a speech this year (short, sweet, funny – just like Emery) to share what it means to have #Duchenne at 17, while still being able to walk, eat and breathe independently, go to school full time, hang out with friends, draw, game…live.

 

I said it last year, and I’ll say it again: the tradition of Music Heals is a love story of our friends, insurance industry colleagues, and family believing that we can change the world, if we do it together. Let’s get to half a million dollars on June 5 at the El Mocambo . Let’s raise the money, dance the night away, and celebrate what we can do when we do it together.

 

My friends, we never know what today will bring. Hope to see you June 5 at the El Mo.

 

For tickets, donations, silent auction and sponsorship info, please visit and share the link above with the snazzy QR code 😊

 

Thank you for all of it, everything.