WILLIAM Reyner is a typical six-year-old. He loves dinosaurs, running around, climbing rocks and play time with his sister.

But by the time he is 16 he will be in a wheelchair with limited body movement.

He has a disease called muscular dystrophy, which means his muscles simply don't build.

He is only expected to live until his early 30s.

His parents, Paul and Sharon Reyner, found out their son had the disease two years ago.

"It was only a fluke we found out,” Mr Reyner said. "Twelve months before he had pneumonia and we took him to emergency up here.”

Several tests later and they found an abnormality in his liver.

"We found it was nothing to do with the liver; it was the muscles, because the liver is a muscle,” he said.

"What eventually takes their life is their heart gives out,” Mrs Reyner added.

There is currently no known cure for the disease. Instead treatments focus on prolonging life and quality of life.

For William that means taking steroids every day.

He has the Duchenne strain of the disease, which impacts about one in every 3500 males.

The disease is passed down through the mother, but as Mrs Reyner was part of an all-female family, she's unsure how far back the gene runs.

Anyone who has met William wouldn't notice anything was wrong.

He may be a little slower than other kids his age and there are small things he already can't do.

"He can't do buttons and he can't do shoe laces because that's all the muscles in the hands that aren't working so well,” Mrs Reyner said.

"He doesn't like to write because it's hard to do.”

His parents are hoping to prolong his childhood for as long as they can, and they're grateful his interests lie more in prehistoric creatures than they do sports.

"We want him to be a kid for as long as he can be because he will have to grow up rather quickly,” Mr Reyner said.

"The only thing that's not typical is he's not really interested in sports, which is obvious why.

"We haven't had to have the conversation on why he can't go and play soccer in town.”

When the couple first found out it was extremely tough for them to come to terms with.

"Everything that comes to mind that they're not going to be able to do,” Mrs Reyner said.

"The first couple of weeks when we got in the car to drive to work and drive home you just cried because with kids that's the only time you can.

"You can't tell a five-year-old in 10 years they'll be in a wheelchair.”

The two are grateful they live in a country where they can access therapy and medication with ease.

They're thankful to all the services they have been able to access locally as well.

Last week the Reyner family hosted a morning tea to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Queensland and is currently holding a raffle to raise money for Save our Sons and Muscular Dystrophy Australia.

The charities help provide families with equipment, such as wheelchairs, needed for someone with the disease.

Looking forwards there's one thing Mr Reyner hopes for his son:

"That he enjoys life - what else can you wish for?”

RAFFLE tickets are available from Granite Belt Locksmiths. They're giving away a surveillance camera and mushrooms donated by the pair's workplaces.