Meet the eight-year-old 'Wonder Woman' who has raised £50k for charity

An eight-year-old girl from Wiltshire who has raised more than £50,000 for charity has visited Downing Street to receive an award from the prime minister.

Carmela Chillery-Watson, from Devizes, was diagnosed with LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD) when she was three years old.

L-CMD is a progressive muscle-wasting disease which weakens every muscle over time. It affects people's ability to walk or use their arms and hands, and weakens the heart and respiratory muscles. It leads to an average life expectancy into late-teenage years. 

Carmela's family say she has always been determined to stay as active as she can and she has now helped fund research into L-CMD.

In 2019, she embarked on a 300km challenge walking one kilometre a day with her mum while dressed as Wonder Woman.

In 2021, Carmela and her mum Lucy started a new challenge - the 150 a day challenge - where they posted a physical therapy challenge each day until June 2021.

The pair have now continued to carry on the legacy of the walk, but Carmela is now losing the ability to walk long distances and so the Wonder Woman Walk has been renamed 'Wonder Wheels'.

Carmela's mum Lucy said: "I am immensely proud, even though she hates me saying that word. Through her daily physical challenges, she just wants to help others and spread awareness, she wants to try to find ways to find a cure.

"We don't do it to receive awards we do it because it's our only hope to do it, we tackle it together". On August 9, Carmela was formally presented with the Points of Light Award by Danny Kruger MP for Devizes. He said: “Carmela is an inspiration to me and to thousands of people all over the country.

"Her daily fitness tips are brilliant and a sign of her great strength and huge spirit. She is a true point of light in these dark times and I’m so grateful to her for the encouragement she gives to so many people.”

Carmela is continuing to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy UK.