• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Aimee Murray can deal with carrying her 31-pound, 4-year-old son. She can handle putting a 1.5-inch feeding tube into a hole in his belly and inflating a small balloon inside his abdomen to keep it in place. She can even endure exhausting hours of constantly checking on her boy to monitor his breathing and comfort him when he has muscle spasms.

Sykesville mom prays for son’s cure of rare disease

January 19, 2012
By Catholic Review
Filed Under: Local News, News

Aimee Murray can deal with carrying her 31-pound, 4-year-old son. She can handle putting a 1.5-inch feeding tube into a hole in his belly and inflating a small balloon inside his abdomen to keep it in place. She can even endure exhausting hours of constantly checking on her boy to monitor his breathing and comfort him when he has muscle spasms.

What’s really tough for the St. Joseph, Sykesville, parishioner is the knowledge that little Cormac “Mac” Murray will never get better. Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare genetic disease that is slowly robbing him of everyday functions, will one day claim his life unless there is a miracle.

“It’s all hard,” said the 35-year-old stay-at-home mom, “but the physical challenges have nothing on the mental challenges. Just knowing what he’s lost is very difficult. There are times when you don’t want to face the day because it’s so depressing. We try to live each day to the fullest times 1,000.”

Mrs. Murray and her husband, Brian, first became concerned about Mac when at 18 months he had only taken a few steps. He was misdiagnosed with mild cerebral palsy before an MRI, blood and urine tests finally confirmed more than a year later that he had MLD.

The debilitating disease occurs in only 1 in 40,000 births and is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme Arylsufatase A. MLD impairs the development of the myelin sheath, a fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers.

Without a properly functioning myelin sheath, the communication between nerves and the brain is weakened. Patients suffer loss of mobility, paralysis, seizures and other physical disabilities.

When Mrs. Murray first heard the diagnosis, she admitted being angry with God. As she cares for her son, the devoted mother now finds strength in her faith.

“God has carried us when we needed to be carried,” she said. “We wouldn’t be good parents without God in our lives.”

Calling Mac a “gift from God,” Mrs. Murray said her son has taught her to love every moment of life.

“We take nothing for granted,” she said. “We don’t stop believing in miracles, and we pray all the time – for a cure and for comfort for Mac.”

While bone marrow transplants may delay the progression of the disease in some cases, Mrs. Murray said Mac is not eligible for the procedure because the development of the disease is too far progressed.

The Murrays and their friends have formed a group called “Mac’s Team,” which is devoted to raising awareness about MLD. Mac’s Team held a bull roast and benefit auction in 2007 and 2008 to raise money for the Murray family. Many fellow parishioners supported the cause, Mrs. Murray said.

Mac currently has no mobility and is suffering from a bout with pneumonia, but when he’s excited he still pumps a fist in the air. It’s a gesture Mrs. Murray treasures – a symbol of an indomitable spirit. Praying with Mac, her husband and their other son, Colin, is also a joyous moment for the entire family, she said.

“Those quiet moments with Mac mean so much,” Mrs. Murray said. “It’s such a blessing.”

For more information, visit www.macsteam.org.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic Review

The Catholic Review is the official publication of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Hold the tuna casserole; pass the crab cake this Lent
  • Theater program hits new highs at Immaculate Conception
  • Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024
  • Movie Review: ’65’

| Latest Local News |

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints

Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day

| Latest World News |

Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm

Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says

Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm
  • Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says
  • Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?
  • Papa: Acoger a migrantes y refugiados es el primer paso hacia la paz
  • Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81
  • Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Good politics brings people together, generates care for others, pope says
  • Wyoming becomes first state to ban abortion pills

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED