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In the beginning, Conner Curran ran up the stairs.

It was a miraculous moment for him and his parents, Jess and Chris Curran. Just months before, contractors were in their New York home to install a motorized lift, while Jess tearfully explained that it wasn’t for a grandparent but for their 7-year-old son, who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and could barely haul himself up the steps.

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Then Conner was accepted as the first patient in Pfizer’s Duchenne gene therapy trial. Three weeks later, he could bound to the second floor. Soon, he could walk the two-plus miles to Goldberg’s, a local bagel shop. “I couldn’t do that before,” he told NPR in 2020. 

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