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Carlos Galarza

Darius Weems, left, enjoys a thrill while riding with Andy Myers around the muddy motocross track in Fair Play on Wednesday.

FAIRPLAY — The heavens over Oconee County greeted Darius Weems with a drenching downpour.

For a young man with a deadly type of muscular dystrophy (MD) who lives each day as if it were his last, the steady rain Wednesday was a blessing.

Weems, 19, has become the poster child for the fight to find a cure for MD. His story, captured in the multiple-award winning documentary, “Darius Goes West,” has captivated a nation. He is on a mission to sell 1 million DVDs of the documentary in one year, raising some $17 million for research in hopes of finding a cure for the deadly Duchenne MD. In fact, the disease already claimed the life of Weems’ brother, also 19 when he succumbed to Duchenne.

Like clockwork, Weems’ big “Darius Goes West” recreational vehicle (RV) rolled into Fair Play on S.C. Highway 59 for a scheduled four-wheel scoot around the motocross track on Hart Drive scheduled for 9 a.m. When the RV descended the muddy dirt road off of Dairy Road, several dozen teenagers from Fort Hill Presbyterian Church youth group and a gathering of Daniel High School students waiting for him in the rain cheered loudly.

Clemson Mayor Larry Abernathy mingled with the kids in the rain as he too stretched his neck to see Weems as he was rolled down in a wheelchair from the RV.

Under a portable tent, Weems flashed a big smile as the gathering greeted him like a celebrity.

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Carlos Galarza

The way Darius Weems, center, had fun Wednesday belies that he is living on borrowed time with a deadly type of Muscular Dystrophy. Jim Nelson, left, owner of the Fair Play motocross track, and a bunch of Darius' admirers were on hand to greet him Wednesday.

It took the help of several people to raise Weems from his wheelchair to a four-by-four Kubota Rough Terrain Vehicle (RTV). Andy Myers, whose father owns the nearby Oakway Tractor, made the RTV available for Weems’ joy ride. Myers took Weems for a spin around the muddy track as motocross daredevils crisscrossed the track around them.

One of those daredevils was Robert Lightsey, a ninth-grader at Daniel High, who races motocross on a team headed by track owner Jim Nelson. Lightsey was instrumental in inviting Darius and his crew to have an off-road racing experience.

When everyone returned to the tent, Weems again flashed his winning smile and commented: “Great!”

It was just the start of a full day of excitement for Weems. He later traveled to Daniel High to meet students there, took the run down the hill at Memorial Stadium with the Clemson University Tigers football team, met with university students on campus, participated in a meet and greet picnic at Catherine Smith Plaza and capped the day with a DVD screening and question and answer period at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.