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The idea for the film Heartbeat was sparked by the popular parental refrain, ‘they grow up so fast.” Director Kyra Bartley wanted to put that idea into the heartbreaking story of families living with Duchenne, where there’s a struggle between celebrating as their boys develop, hit milestones and flourish as human beings - whilst at the same time knowing that every step forward is also a step closer to their body failing them. Kyra says, “We wrote a poem meant as both a love-letter from mother to son, as well as a desperate plea for time to stop its forward march, which was beautifully (and heartbreakingly) read by a real mother all too familiar with this struggle."