Michael Gray Dougherty was born in October of 1998. In August of 1999, Gray was diagnosed with Type II SMA. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his mom - Abbie, dad - Mike and younger brother, Riley.

Gray has a MALE teacher, Mr. Pressly, this year for 2nd grade. Gray was hoping for him, so when he heard he got Mr. Pressly, he said it was his “luck of the Irish”. We are also so thankful Mrs. Hager, his aide, is back with him this year. She has been with Gray now since Gray started school. It gives us peace of mind to know she is there for him! Gray’s bus driver, Mr. Jim, is back this year too. We are excited to have him driving Gray. Mr. Jim knows everything about video games, so it’s hard to get Gray to stop talking on the van and go to school. Gray has also started a math enrichment program called Kumon. He says he does not like it; however, he loves to brag when he completes a new level! Gray has also been cleared to play wheelchair soccer again this year since it has been one year since his spinal fusion surgery. He is enjoying playing on the power surge team.

The beginning of October found Gray in the hospital. He was admitted because of a stomach bug and dehydration. The surgeons thought it was appendicitis and wanted to operate. The doctors could not get a good read from either the ultrasound or the CT scan so they weren’t really sure it was his appendix. The rods in his back made it difficult for accurate CT scan results. We kept asking questions, brought up the fact that Gray is very difficult to intubate and the doctors decided to wait to operate. Thankfully turned out to be the right call after all and it was not his appendix and the hospital stay only lasted for 4 days.

The end of October Gray had his Make-a-Wish trip ( www.wish.org). His wish was to go to Disney World. We tried to dissuade his decision because we thought we could always just take him to Disney one day. We wanted him to come up with something that was unattainable from us. From the minute the Make-a-Wish foundation started dealing with Gray, he felt special. We were met at the airport, taken to a disabled child’s dreamland, called Give Kids The World facility (www.gktw.org). The whole family stayed in a condo at this incredible resort for make-a-wish kids. The ENTIRE place was built for handicapped children. Gray could get anywhere; do anything that a typical kid would be able to do. He could ride the merry-go-round, play putt putt, ride on the train, go into the pool, and feel at home in any of the buildings, ALL IN HIS WHEELCHAIR! The volunteers at the resort made Gray feel like he was king of the world! They would beg you to come get ice cream, 10 times a day if you felt like it. Lots of goodies were left in your condo every night before bedtime. They had movies and socials nightly. They even had Christmas one night with snow and a visit from Santa! All this and we haven’t even touched on Disney yet! We went to 5 parks; Disney, Epcot, Universal, Animal Kingdom, Islands of Adventure. I think Universal and Islands of Adventure were Gray’s favorite. The Spiderman ride in particular. They were extremely accommodating at the parks, especially Disney. Give Kids the World had given Gray a pass to show so he didn’t have to wait in line and it was awesome! Everyone treated Gray like he was King! He truly had a magical time and we are so very fortunate to have experienced that with him. We will have a lifetime of special memories from Gray’s amazing Disney adventure! After the trip, we agreed we could have never given Gray THAT kind of treatment for a trip to Disney. Gray really did know what to ask for!

At the end of October we had our 8th annual Gray’s Gang SMAshing kickoff fund raiser. It was still humbling to see everyone there, supporting Gray and our family and raising money for this horrible disease. Lots of fun was had by all, some spicy bidding wars were active and a ton of great things to bid on were there this year. One of the most impressive items was the Christmas rug hand painted by Martha Speight. Maria Stone worked her tiny little fingers to the bones, as usual, and the event was quite a success. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who help make Gray’s Gang happen each year.

In October we also were fortunate to have Learning Express include us in their fundraising efforts again. Everyone who bought items at the toy store could have 20% of their total purchase given to Gray’s Gang, just by mentioning Gray and his Gang. Peter, who owns Learning Express, is always very supportive in our fundraising efforts.

Christmas was wonderful this year. I asked Gray not to be sick for Christmas Day and he said “you got it!” He was true to his word, and did not get sick until the 27th! He was sick for the rest of the holiday, however, he did not need to be hospitalized and he did not miss any school! Yeah.

In April, Mike and I went to the Fight SMA (Andrew’s Buddies) conference in Washington. We lobbied on the hill to North Carolina Senator Burr’s aides and met with our local Representative Sue Myrick. We urged both of them to pass the SMA bill that will be coming to them in the future. The trip was very educational and hopefully helpful in opening some eyes about SMA and how close we are to a cure with a little help!

In May Gray had his first Holy Communion. What a special, special day!!! He was so very proud. He was chosen to take the gifts up in the mass. We had lots of family join us from far and wide in celebrating his big event. Gray had amazing teachers, Mrs. Martha and Ms. Kathleen to prepare him for his day.

In June, school’s out! It is bitter sweet. Just like he thought, Gray had a great teacher and a great class this year. School was a pleasure.

We started the summer off with a trip to Hilton Head followed by a week long trip with Mae Mae to Washington, DC. We visited Gray’s Aunt and Uncle, Carroll and Zac. We saw all the monuments, or at least it felt like we saw all of them! We had a personal tour of the Capital, compliments of one of Sue Myrick’s aides, went to the top of the Washington monument and enjoyed the Air and Space and Natural History museums. We spent time with our good friends, the Draddy’s, in Silver Spring, Maryland and ended our week with a Flanagan family reunion at Tom and Judy’s. Uncle Tom and Aunt Judy built a ramp for Gray that was amazing. The ramp was much better than the red carpet! Lots of special time with special people. On the drive home, we stopped by Luray Caverns to do some more sight seeing. It was worth it! The caverns were handicap accessible, 16 stories below ground, and it was well worth the slight detour.

Other highlights from Gray’s summer include Chess camp (which he loved), spending time at the beach with both sets of Grandparents and hanging out with George, his neighbor and new found buddy. We couldn’t forget MDA”spend the night” summer camp (www.mdausa.org/clinic/camp). It had to be the hottest days of the summer so far (100 degrees plus). I was extremely nervous leaving my child with someone whom I had just laid eyes on! MDA camp has a one on one counselor for every camper. The volunteers are wonderfully special people, Gray’s being no exception. Her name was Danielle and she was very brave under my initial inquisition. I quizzed her thoroughly on her life’s background and on her ability to take care of my son for a week. She answered every question with a smile and a very positive attitude. She helped Gray have a camp experience like any other 8 year old boy who attends camp. He had an absolute blast, complete with the “I’m cooler than cool” attitude that came home with him! I saw that he survived without me and lived to tell about it and was very happy! Sarah Baldwin, the MDA coordinator for the camp did a fantastic job with the camp, the theme and the volunteers. We feel very fortunate that Gray was able to participate in such a wonderful camp.

The end of August is here and it is back to school time. Gray is actually looking forward to the start of school because he says his homework will be less. He has read one hour and a half daily this summer. That adds up to 100 hours over the summer! He also did his math program daily. Gray was rewarded by making the Kumon North America Math Honor Roll! His response to that was “What’s an honor roll?” He is ready for a break! This year at Selwyn Elementary Gray has Ms. Stiene for 3rd grade and Ms. Hager his aide. He is already looking forward to EOG’s (End-of-Grade’s)!

We can never thank you all enough for all of the prayers you send for Gray and all of the support you continue to give us.

Our blessings are you.

Thank you!