Young Activist, , Takes Center Stage In Fight Against Arthritis

May 27, 2005

Young Activist Takes Center Stage In Fight Against Arthritis

Written by Peggy Fox

If you think arthritis is a disease only older people worry about, think

again.

Juvenile arthritis hits hundreds of thousands of children. It can maim them

and sometimes it can kill them.

9 News' Peggy Fox tells us about a 7th grader from Fairfax who's getting

national recognition for her work in fighting Arthritis.

Peggy Fox's report

The knit hat is the only giveaway that 13-year old has a medical

problem. The medicine, Embryl is causing her hair loss, which she accepts as

a small price to pay.

" If it weren't for the medicine, I wouldn't be able to walk " , says .

was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis when she was two-years old.

She's been living with pain every day as long as she can remember.

" It's like having a headache in your joints; it will hurt "

's mother says things have gotten better thanks to many drugs

takes. But in the beginning, it was hard.

" I was just angry, but then you finally reach a point and accept it and

fight it " , says Liz , 's mother.

Right now, 300,000 children are known to have juvenile arthritis. The

federal government spends about $7 million on research. That's only $23 a

child.

is the National Arthritis Foundation's Youth Honoree for Saturday's

walkathons, to be held all throughout the country. Northern Virginia's will

be right here at Secondary School.

will be front and center, raising awareness about arthritis, a

debilitating disease, especially when it hits children.

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