Chesterfield teen appearing on MDA telethon

At the age of 9, Caroline Pennell was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Five years later, she's sharing the lessons learned with the world.

Pennell, a Chesterfield County resident and a freshman at Matoaca High School, will miss her first day of school this year. She'll be in Las Vegas, appearing on the 44th annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon.

After being profiled in the 2008 Richmond Telethon, the local MDA office submitted the piece to its national offices. From thousands of submissions, the field was narrowed to three profiles. Pennell's was among them.

A month ago, Pennell and her family received word they'd been selected to appear live on the show.

"They just happened to choose me," said the teen. "We got the envelope that told us we were going to Las Vegas on my birthday. It made my day twice as good. I just hope everyone will like me and I won't screw up."

Pennell was a fourth-grader when she and her family began to suspect something was wrong.

"It was little things, like I couldn't run as fast as my other classmates and I couldn't go up stairs very quickly," she recalled.

A couple of days after visiting a pediatrician, the doctor came to the house and let the family know she had a neuromuscular disease.

"We were all very distraught," she recalled. "My mom asked him, 'What are the chances you're wrong?' and he said, 'One in a million.'"

Pennell suffers from limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a genetic, progressive disease that causes muscle weakness and wasting, starting in the shoulder and hip areas. She'll be using a power wheelchair this year in school.

"I'm nervous, but I hope that people will accept me for who I am and not what I'm riding in," she said.

Pennell stays active despite her condition, boating and fishing as much as possible and socializing constantly. "I'm addicted to my phone," she confessed.

She's also becoming a voice for the MDA, taking on various projects and speaking engagements.

"We need an agent, she's getting so busy," said her mother, Robin. "This is opening a lot of doors for her."

Pennell's attitude in the face of the disease is what she suspects earned her the trip to Las Vegas.

"There really wasn't anything we could do, so we had to accept it and learn to live with it," she said. "I would rather get out and enjoy life while I can than to sit there in denial."

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .