Girl with muscular dystrophy takes on 100-mile trek

Carmela, from Wareham, is travelling along the Jurassic coast

A 10-year-old girl with muscular dystrophy is travelling 100 miles over two weeks to raise money for charity.

Carmela, from Wareham, began walking, and wheeling in her wheelchair, along the Jurassic coast on Sunday.

The challenge is part of the Superhero Series, a programme of mass participation events, sponsored by Marvel and founded by paralympian Sophia Warner.

Her mother Lucy and dog Tinker have also been walking the challenge, and they hope to raise £10,000 for local children’s hospice Julia's House.

Carmela is walking in a superhero costume and hopes to finish on 29 June

The fundraiser's mother described the charity as "our second family”.

She said: “I don’t get help from anywhere apart from Julia’s House, and I would feel very lost without them."

Her mum added that Carmela’s father works away during the week, so looking after her daughter alone can be "full-on".

Carmela has a rare and aggressive form of muscular dystrophy, which affects one child in a million.

The muscle wasting condition is progressive and life-threatening and there is currently no cure.

The family moved to Dorset from Wiltshire and before the challenge Carmela said she was looking forward to seeing the county.

“I’ve only just moved to Dorset, and I haven’t been to the Jurassic coast yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like, enjoying the sea views and maybe even collecting some fossils," she said.

She has been trekking along the Jurassic Coast dressed in a superhero costume and hopes to finish on 29 June with a walk from Wareham Quay to the Julia’s House hospice in Corfe Mullen.

Carmela has performed a variety of fundraising events in the past and won an award at the BBC Radio Wiltshire Make a Difference Awards in 2023.