AN explorer from Buntingford has launched a charity auction to enable sufferers of a muscular disease to live their dream. Michael McGrath, 41, co-founder of the Muscular Help Foundation (MHF), has launched the online auction in a bid to provide sufferers

AN explorer from Buntingford has launched a charity auction to enable sufferers of a muscular disease to live their dream.

Michael McGrath, 41, co-founder of the Muscular Help Foundation (MHF), has launched the online auction in a bid to provide sufferers of the muscle wasting disease, muscular dystrophy, with memorable experiences.

He said: "The auction will help the charity enormously, because we will be able to deliver one or more 'muscular' dreams.

"People can nominate a person with a life-threatening muscle disease, and our aim is to provide them with an opportunity to live their dream."

The father of one, who is the only disabled person in the world to have conquered the North and South poles, said the auction was working very well.

People can bid for a selection of lots, including breakfast with GMTV's Lorraine Kelly, and a two-night break at a five star hotel in New York.

Michael said: "We have already had some bidding wars and our aim is to raise £10,000.

"We already have some great ambassadors and supporters."

Michael, who has a mild form of muscular dystrophy, now finds walking difficult, but remains very driven and focused.

"My motivation is to make a difference in the lives of people who are suffering from this disease," he said.

Talking to school children is what drives Michael.

"When I went to Scotland two months ago, I touched the lives of 3,000 children in just one week," he said.

Michael said he hoped more and more people would bid in the auction to help sufferers.

"Muscles are what bind us together and give us the power to function and enable our dreams and ambitions to be achieved," he said.

"But muscular dystrophy is a degenerative, cruel and unforgiving disease that destroys lives and ultimately results in 40,000 premature deaths,"

"There have been some extraordinary people I have met whose bodies are shutting down because their muscles are wasting away.

"So it's time for people to flex their financial muscle, and help those whose muscles are wasting away live a dream."

The auction site is live until 6pm on Sunday, but Michael may be extending the closing date.

If anyone would like to support the charity and bid for a lot, visit www.musclehelp.com/muscledreamsauction

Muscles factfile

- The largest muscle in the body the gluteus maximus, is in the bottom

- It takes 17 muscles to smile and 42 to frown

- The strongest muscles in the body are believed to be the tongue and the jaw muscle

- There are three different types of muscle - skeletal, smooth and cardiac

- There are 656 muscles in the human body

- There are 65 variations of muscular disease