Alicia and Cooper Harris from Westfield motivated the local community to find cures by participating in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s New Jersey Chapter’s Take Steps walk. This year’s walk took place on Sunday, June 12th at Liberty State Park. Their team surpassed their goal to raise $20,000, and raised $23,915 to date.
The siblings are living with Crohn’s disease which combined with ulcerative colitis, are painful, debilitating digestive diseases affecting more than 1.6 million American adults and children, including an estimated 80,000 patients under the age of 18.
Alicia, a 15 year old freshman at Westfield High School, was diagnosed at age 11, after a series of tests, she found out that she was severely anemic and was diagnosed with moderate to severe Crohn’s Disease. Along with Crohn’s Disease, Alicia has been diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and experiences tendonitis and fluid in her knees. She has been on Remicade® for the past three years and her infusions range from every 6-8 weeks at Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey.
Last year, her brother Cooper, 13 years old, was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. He doesn’t get stomach pain like his sister, but his Crohn’s damaged his intestines and interferes with his ability to absorb protein and vitamins from his food. He was put on Remicade® right away. The treatments make Alicia feel better. It is tougher for Cooper, while he is fortunate not to have stomach pain, he doesn’t even feel like he has a disease, but he has to get infusions. He doesn’t like the IVs, but he has been brave about it and deals with it. The siblings are on different schedules but a few times over the last year they have had their infusions on the same day and they enjoy seeing who finishes first. You can read their stories at online.ccfa.org/goto/aliciaandcooper.
“At last year’s walk, they gave bracelets out to the walkers with Crohn’s and Colitis, and for our family it was three out of four of us wearing the bracelets. I wasn’t surprised how many people that had the diseases, but instead was impressed about how many people weren’t wearing bracelets, friends and family supporting those with Crohn’s and Colitis.” said Cooper Harris.
(above) Cooper and Alicia Harris were the 2016 Pediatric Honored aHeroes of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Walk.
