Calves to Cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Raising kids brings both joys and challenges in the best of times. In the case of Paul and Laura Heaton, they realized a special challenge when their son, Grant, was 3 years old. He was slow learning to walk and, once he did walk, fell more than normal and had a rolling gait. The concerned parents thought it might be his hips and took him to the Shriner Hospital in Spokane, WA for a movement assessment.

The diagnosis: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, or DMD—a genetic disease on the longest gene in the human body. Duchenne is classified under muscular dystrophies (genetic diseases marked by muscle weakness) and is notably the most severe due to the absence of dystrophin, a protein essential for muscle integrity. It’s a progressive disease appearing in boys around age 3; between ages 10 to 14 most boys are in a wheelchair and most won’t live beyond their 20s.

Paul had been working with his fencing business and Laura as an engineer, but as their son’s DMD progressed Paul realized he needed to be with Grant increasingly and began ranching full time, which allowed him to always be available for their son.

“Our current goal is to keep Grant out of a wheelchair for as long as possible,” said Paul.

He explains that from the time Grant was diagnosed with DMD, Laura, Paul and sister Elyse, now 12, have told him that he is different.

Grant has a mobility scooter for school and a trac wheelchair that friends purchased. The firstgrade class from the Worden School District came to the Calves to Cure DMD Sale as a field trip, and Elyse and her classmates have made keychains to sell and donate money to Cure Duchenne.

The Worden rancher admits there is deep grief with the diagnosis of DMD. “It is important to reach out to other families with DMD kids. Do what you can to keep your child going. Do not hold back. Kids should be in the middle of everything. Grant is out with us when we are working with cows. He sits in a chair and keeps track of the cattle ear tag numbers. He stays involved in everything we do.”

Grant raised a bottle (orphan) calf last spring and has a rabbit as his 4-H project, spending the entire week at the fair.

In the United States, approximately 1 in 5,000 male births are affected by DMD.

“There is no cure for DMD, and about the only treatment are steroids which act as an antiinflammatory. There is nothing we can do at this stage to heal Grant, but we wanted to raise money to find a cure or at least a treatment of Duchenne,” Paul said.

The couple developed the idea of the Calves to Cure DMD Fundraiser. “We have many friends in agriculture who wanted to help and devised the idea of raising money through a cattle sale. We visited with Ty Thompson at Billings Livestock Sale (BLS) and he immediately understood what we were trying to do.”

On the Calves to Cure DMD Sale day, ranchers bring any bovine they wish and donate either the entire proceeds or a portion of the proceeds. In 2025, the sale is set for September 18. Most of the money raised is from the cattle sale donations, but they also accept cash donations and have a boxed beef raffle.

Although the couple originally thought about starting a nonprofit, they quickly decided it wasn’t in their wheelhouse and began researching other Duchenne nonprofits. The couple discovered Cure Duchenne was an impressive company that invests in Duchenne research; if that research company sells, the money circulates directly back to fund more research.

Paul encourages other parents with children with a DMD diagnosis to reach out to him. “It makes a huge difference to know there are other families out there with the same challenge.”

Paul Heaton: 406-660-1208/calvestocuredmd@gmail.com; Facebook: @Calves to Cure DMD and their website is www. CureDuchenne.org/calvestocure.

For more information about Duchenne visit Cure Duchenne: cureduchenne.org.

Rebecca Colnar is Director of Public Relations for Montana Farm Bureau and a freelance writer from Custer, Montana.