Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
New hope for Blake
Second charity shop to be opened in bid to find cure
A SECOND charity shop is to be opened in aid of a boy with a rare genetic disease in a bid to find a cure for his condition.
Blake McMillan, 5, from Carnoustie, is one of only several hundred people in the world who have Mecp2 duplication syndrome. The condition means Blake has global development delay and is unable to walk, talk or eat. He also suffers from recurrent chest infections and daily seizures.
Sufferers usually begin to experience seizures by the age of five which causes the brain to stop functioning properly.
Most require round-the-clock care and at least half will die before the age of 25.
Blake’s mum Jenny, 40, already runs a charity shop in Carnoustie, with all the proceeds going either to Blake’s care or to research into Mecp2 duplication syndrome.
Now another shop, Blake’s Bargains, is being opened in Arbroath High Street, which family friend Joy Wilkie, 39, is going to run with a team of volunteers.
Joy said: “Jenny and I were speaking and she mentioned that she wanted to open a new shop.
“I was looking for full-time work and Jenny needed someone to run the shop so we just combined the two ideas.
“I used to work in retail so we just both thought, ‘this makes sense’. We think the shop will take off as a lot of younger families have supported the shop in Carnoustie.”
Joy said the store would be open sixdays a week, with volunteers including her mum, Joyce Wilkie.
In 2015, a study showed that the condition and its symptoms were reversible in mice. The research was seen as a crucial step into finding a human cure for Mecp2 duplication syndrome. Joy added: “Blake’s family and friends, along with others around the world, have set a target of raising £300,000 to enable Blake to be one of the first people involved in any clinical trials for humans, within two years.”
The new charity shop, at 265 High Street, will sell clothes, toys, books DVDs and other items.