"Where would you go if you’d never been away from home?"
15-year-old Darius Weems, who had never left his hometown of Athens, Ga, knew exactly where he wanted to go when asked. West to Los Angeles.
Born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children worldwide, Darius has lost all use of the muscles in his legs and is dependent upon a wheelchair to get around. In 1999, he lost his beloved older brother, Mario, to the same disease at age 19.
A group of Darius's college-age friends, who knew Darius needed a chance to experience life to its fullest, rented a wheelchair-accessible RV and took Darius, "on the adventure of a lifetime". Darius and his friends traveled 7,000 miles cross-country to LA and along the way evaluated wheelchair accessibility in America. Also while on the journey the group celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and raised awareness of DMD. Their adventures were made into a documentary--Darius Goes West: The Roll of his Life.
Darius--who had never seen mountains or the the ocean--ultimately wanted to convince MTV's hit show "Pimp My Ride" to customize his wheelchair while in LA. While he never made it on the show, he and his buddies don't feel defeated. Instead, they "found joy, brotherhood and the knowledge that life, even when imperfect, is always worth the ride."
Appearing in film festivals around the world, the documentary has won 25 awards to date.
The DVD is now available for $19.99 here.
To read more about Darius and the documentary, check out our online top story, Darius Goes West.