Aside from entertaining the masses, superhero movies can often inspire people in more concrete ways as well, even the actors playing the roles of the heroes. Recently, six-year-oldWonder Womanfan Carmela Chillery-Watson, who was born with a very rare form of muscular dystrophy, decided to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK by covering 300km in 30 days with her mother, Lucy. News of Carmela’s efforts, and her love for Wonder Woman reached Gal Gadot, who issued the following statement on Twitter.
“My real wonder girl! Wow this video blew my mind. You’re a true hero. So inspiring and strong. I hope one day we get to meet each other. Until then I’m sending you lots of love and a big big hug!!!”
Gal Gadotalso donated to Carmela’s fundraiser, which has since greatly surpassed its target. According to Carmela’s mother, Wonder Woman inspires her daughter to “keep fighting to stay strong and fight on.” The young girl had the idea to cover the equivalent of the 2,000km distance from her home near Devizes in Wiltshire to Wonder Woman’s fictional home in Italy that has been featured in the filmWonder Woman 1984.
Carmela was first diagnosed with LMNA CongenitalMuscular Dystrophyin 2017. Her medical condition, which is on the very severe spectrum, affects one in a million babies, with only a handful of recorded cases of the disease worldwide. The condition worsens over time and can make it difficult for the patient to survive to adulthood. Carmela’s mother explained how big a challenge the fundraising walk is going to be for her daughter.
“It’s a muscle wasting condition. It weakens all the skeletal muscles. It will affect her heart and lungs in the long run but eventually children that are born fine with this condition will lose their ability to walk later. We’ve lost a lot of the arm strength. She struggles to lift her arms even to scratch her head, even to hold anice cream, so this is really a big sort of personal achievement for her.”
Carmela will be covering 300km of the total 2,000km on crutches and wheelchair. Her friends and supporters will aid her efforts by walking the rest of the way on her behalf. Money raised from the fundraiser will be used to help with the research that is going towards finding a cure for Carmela’s condition.
Since taking on the role of Wonder Woman in the DCEU, Gal Gadot has become the face of the franchise for many. Her upcoming solo filmWonder Woman 1984takes the character of Princess Diana into the 1980s, where she has to take on the combined might of Maxwell Lord and the Cheetah while dealing with the surprising reentry of her long-lost love Steve Trevor.
Directed and co-written by Patty Jenkins,Wonder Woman 1984features a lead cast of Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, and Natasha Rothwell. The film arrives in theaters December 25. This news comes fromITV.comandJustGiving.com.
