First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far!

Debra and her two amazing daughters Melissa and Malory are running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 12th.  We are running to benefit the Cure JM Foundation.  Juvenile Myositis (an autoimmune disease) only affects 5,000 children nationwide and therefore gets little attention for treatment or research.  We're helping to change that by running on behalf of one of the children who lives in Colorado and comes to Denver for treatment.  We are running for a little boy named Colby.  Colby, now 11, was diagnosed almost six years ago.  He is treated by a Rheumatologist in Denver but lives in Pagosa Springs with his father.  We have spoken with him about our race and he is VERY excited to be a part of such a big event and to have a firefighter running for him.  We will post further information about Colby and the race as it is available.

Here is some information about Colby, from his father:

"Colby was diagnosed in 2002 when he was 5 ½ years old.  At his worse: Colby had to crawl to a chair to get himself up from the floor; he could not walk the length of a football field; he could only sit in a chair and watch his friends in gym class run and play.  The lack of physical activity caused contractures of his arms and legs so that he could not straighten them.  To this day he still can not touch his toes with his legs straight.  He has a growth delay of about two years.  The disease has caused wart like calcium deposits on several of his fingers.  These are painful and do not allow him to hold a pencil like his peers.

While the normal course of treatment is about two years, Colby is still on medications almost six years later.  It’s not clear if he will ever be off his medications. 

But, Colby has a tremendous spirit and drive.  Only once in school did he ever break down and cry about his situation.  He is a straight A student.  He plays soccer in a recreation league.  He snowboards. He mountain bikes (and has the stitches to prove it!).  He never blames his disease for not being able to do something.  He is a great kid.

If you have any questions please contact any of us and remember that anything you can give will be very much appreciated. 

More information about JM can be found on their web page at www.curejm.com