August 4, 1997, Wyatt Joseph Keeley was born in Yonkers, New York. He was named after the famous lawman, Wyatt Earp - the idea borne out of a chance viewing of the movie Tombstone during the pregnancy. Wyatt was a beautiful baby with chiseled features, fair hair and large, deep dimples.

And everything seemed right with the world

EXCEPT that Wyatt never crawled, jumped or ran very fast; nor could he climb stairs - many of the typical developmental milestones reached by other children at his age.

Then in 2000, at the age of three, Wyatt was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. We learned that Duchenne is a progressive, muscle-wasting disease. That it is always fatal. That there is no treatment. And there is no cure.

Wyatt is now 12. He always has a smile on his face and he never complains - not about how he is feeling or that he has to wear braces on his legs. Never a word about the horrible-tasting medicines or that he falls and has to have help getting up from the floor. He recognizes that he must be lifted into bed and that he has to have help rolling over during the night. He yields to being pushed through school in a wheelchair and that he must have a designated runner when he plays baseball outside with his friends. He accepts that his growth has been stunted by years of steroids and that his features are bloated so much so that those deep dimples are barely distinguishable. He stands off to the side as he watches his brother, his sister and his friends as they run and play, or while they engage in countless physical activities which most others in good health take for granted.

Wyatt, like his cowboy namesake, is our true hero.

Wyatt Keeley is the inspiration for The Wyatt Foundation. If everyone in the world had his positive outlook, what a great place it would be.

Our hope for the Foundation is to transform Wyatt's optimistic attitude and captivating nature into a message of hope for other families and children who share circumstances similar to ours.