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The pole2pole expedition was the launch event for The Muscle Help Foundation which acts as a focal point to accelerate the eradication of muscle disorders. Michael McGrath who suffers from the muscle wasting disease Muscylar Dystrophy, reached the North Pole in April 2002. In January 2004, Michael McGrath, with the support of his team completed his quest to conquer both poles with an expedition to the South Pole. Fifteen days were spent in Antarctica travelling the last 5kms with Michael strapped in the supine position in an adapted pulk and then walking the last 350 metres, each metre symbolically representing some 100,000 people worldwide with muscle disorders. Upwards of £50,000 was raised after expedition operating costs. Associated with the expedition was a media campaign to raise awareness of muscle diorders, an education programme to learn about the musculare-skeletal system in extreme environments, and funding of leading edge gene-therapy research.
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