(Source: KCBD)
May is Lupus Awareness month.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and tissue damage to any organ in the body.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, an estimated 1.5 million Americans have a form of Lupus.
With no known cure, the Lubbock Lupus support group, a branch of the Lone Star Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America, works to raise awareness, and funds.
They’ve now partnered with Teddy Jack’s Hub City Grill to help people in Lubbock better understand what Lupus is.
But there’s an even bigger reason Teddy Jack’s is getting involved.
For owner Curtis Jordan, Teddy Jack’s is a place he is proud to call his own.
Especially during times like these, when his employees come together to support a cause that hits close to home.
“My son, Matthew, contracted Lupus roughly about, almost exactly two years ago,” Jordan said. “We didn’t know much about it at all.”
With so much unknown, Curtis decided to turn to something he could control: raising awareness throughout this month by selling shirts and wrist bands, and donating a portion of sales for the month to the Lone Star Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America.
Curtis says today, Matthew is doing well and in remission.
But with no known cure and little treatment, it’s something he will always live with.
“He knows that it’s a lifelong battle,” he said.
A battle Kassandra Racu with the Lubbock Lupus support group has known for seven years.
“I was actually diagnosed myself right before my 21st birthday in 2009,” Racu said.
Kassandra says she reaches out to close to 400 people she knows in Lubbock with Lupus.
Inviting them to join the support group, which has become an important part of her life.
“We just kind of talk about what we’ve been struggling with, we give each other advice,” Racu said.
But she says she is thrilled to see the support spread from this group, into the community of Lubbock.
“To see everybody in their purple shirts it’s just really overwhelming and I’m really glad,” she said.
Together, the Lubbock support group and Teddy Jacks hope this month will open people’s eyes to this disease while raising money for the research to help find a cure.
But until those questions are answered, Kassandra and Matthew won’t let Lupus define their lives.
“I’m very proud and tickled to death he is doing fantastic,” Jordan said about Matthew.
“My mom has always told me Carpe Diem, seize the day type of thing and it didn’t really hit home until I was diagnosed with this disease and now it has a special place in my heart,” Racu said.
Teddy Jack's will host the 2016 Lupus balloon release and fundraising kickoff event on Saturday, May 14th from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The event is open to the public, and they encourage everyone to come out and support the cause.
By: Presley Fowler, Reporter
May 11, 2016 | 11:40 p.m.
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