DGW: KNOW ABOUT IT!

January 25, 2007

My name is Darius Weems, and I live in Athens, GA. I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which is the number one genetic killer of children worldwide. I lost my older brother, Mario, to this disease five years ago when he was 19. Two summers ago, 11 of my friends raised a bunch of money, rented a wheelchair-accessible RV, and took me out west. Their goal was to reach L.A. and convince MTV's "Pimp My Ride" to customize my wheelchair. When we took our 7,000-mile trip, I was 15 and had never seen mountains, the ocean, or even crossed a state line. My friends made a documentary of our trip, and now I'm the star of a movie called DARIUS GOES WEST: THE ROLL OF HIS LIFE.

You can see the movie at film festivals all over the U.S. beginning February 1st at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I'm about to attend my world premiere. Yep, I'm heading out west again--this time on a plane (my first time) and flying first-class, thanks to the generosity of Tom Wicka and Delta Airlines. One hundred percent of our profits from this film will be donated to Charley's Fund (www.charleysfund.org) to help fund DMD research. Check our website (www.dariusgoeswest.com) for a screening near you, and check back here often to see pictures and read blogs written by me and my crew as we share our film festival adventures.

DGW...Know about it!