Brandon Pettit, a seventh-grader at Bauxite Middle School, is a typical 12-year-old boy. He enjoys playing video games, watching YouTube videos and spending time with his family.
“He watches a lot of YouTube. He is kind of obsessed, but that’s what he likes to do,” said Ray Pettit, Brandon’s dad. “He’s awesome. He is a blessing to everyone he is around.
“He has a huge heart, and me and him are two peas in a pod.”
Brandon was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD, when he was about 3 years old. According to www.mda.org, DMD is a “genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.”
“I can feel my legs, but I can’t walk,” Brandon said.
“It was a complete shock,” Ray said. But he’s just got a great heart. He has his moments, but he pushes through them and takes them in stride.”
Brandon is assisted by an aid on a daily basis and sees an occupational therapist and a physical therapist once a week. During the interview for this story, Brandon was playing a game of Trouble while being seated in a frame that keeps his legs in position as part of his therapy for about 30 minutes.
The game has a bubble button on top to roll the dice, so having Brandon push that button strengthens his arm muscles.
“It is important to maintain the current level as much as possible,” said Cristina King, his occupational therapist. “We want him to be as independent as possible.”
Brandon and his therapist also play card games sometimes, forcing him to shuffle and deal the cards out.
“We basically work on stuff that I can’t do very easily,” Brandon said.
Fortunately, after physical therapy, he gets to go to his favorite class — science.
“It is interesting because it includes engineering and biology,” Brandon said. “I like that kind of stuff.”
Last year, he and his class got to dissect a sheep’s heart and a sheep’s eyeball, and he has made plastic out of milk and vinegar. This year, the class is more focused on the chemical side and mechanical side of things.
“He’s an excellent student,” said Donna Riggs, who teaches seventh-grade science at Bauxite Middle School. “With the exception of his wheelchair, he is no different than any other student.
“His difficulties with his body aren’t really an issue.”
Riggs, who has been teaching for 35 years, said Brandon is just as active as any other person in group work.
“Other than a few physical modifications, I have been quite tickled at how well he is able to do what I ask,” Riggs said.
She said Brandon is also very social and is a cutup and a tease when he wants to be.
“He has a wonderful sense of humor,” she said. “These kids have grown up with him. They don’t see his wheelchair. He is just like any other kid who might wear braces [on their teeth] or glasses.
“They see Brandon as a person.”
Kim Arnold, the principal at Bauxite Middle School, said that as the school’s counselor, she has known Brandon since he was in the first grade.
“He has always had the biggest heart, even before his disease progressed to where it is now,” Arnold said. “He has always been a very determined young man.
“And his classmates have always rallied behind him.”
Brandon, who rotates week to week between his dad’s and his mom Sarah’s house, said he does struggle putting his clothes on, but he can brush his teeth and eat by himself.
“I live with my parents,” Ray said, and we are currently modifying the bigger room into Brandon’s room so he has a bathroom in the room because it is hard to transfer him from the shower to the bed without tracking a lot of water.
“Once we finish these accommodations, it will be better for him.”
Ray, who attends Centerpoint Church in Benton, said Brandon is at a standstill with his disease.
“He hasn’t progressed any more, but when it does hit him, it hits pretty fast,” Ray said.
Last week, Ray and Brandon were spending the day together at the house, when Ray came up with the idea of doing some funny videos.
“I’m really into doing selfies and funny videos, and I found an app for my phone where it will reverse a video,” Ray said. “So we took a can of cheese and held it up above him. We also took some silly string and did videos with that.
“He really liked that.”
Ray said he is trying to encourage his son to start a blog because “it is a good way to earn a living.”
“Kids on there just do the funniest and craziest things, and they get paid for it,” Ray said. “It is something that would be perfect for [Brandon].
“He’s even thought about working for Google. I always stress whatever God wants him to do. He doesn’t need to worry about what anybody else is saying and listen to what God is telling him.”
Brandon said his favorite thing to do with his dad is go to the movies.
“That’s our main thing,” Ray said. “We also like to go to the lake together and use the walking track in Benton.
“That’s our main way of spending time with one another. It is the little things that matter, I feel like.”
Brandon said the last movie he saw with his dad was The Justice League because Brandon loves Batman.
“He loves superheroes,” Ray said. “He is a superhero to me.
“If anyone else was put in his position, we would all stumble and give up. He takes things in stride and doesn’t let it bother him.”
Ray said Brandon has served as an ambassador for Arkansas for the nonprofit Muscular Dystrophy Association and attends its summer camps every year.
“He has thrown out the first pitch at a Bauxite baseball game, and he has also visited the North Little Rock Fire Department,” Ray said. “They let him ride on the firetruck and gave him an honorary badge.
“We also do a walk for MDA and bring awareness that way.”
Ray also started his own Flex Friday social-media movement to help bring awareness to muscular dystrophy.
“It is something I have been doing for about five months now, and it is really blowing up,” he said. “I get people to do a flex and post a picture of it.
“[Brandon] is starting to see all of them. I’m trying to get as many famous people as I can to spread the awareness.”
Ray said he has already had Pat Walker, a weatherman from KARK Channel 4 in Little Rock, and Congressman French Hill pose for photos.
“The star of the movie Greater did a flex picture for me, also,” Ray said. “I’m trying to get as many people as I can to get awareness.”
Brandon, who was born in Benton, will celebrate his 13th birthday March 21. He said there isn’t a cure for muscular dystrophy, but he hopes one day there will be.
“I believe that there will be,” Brandon said.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.