Cole Flack of Oregon received his diagnosis of juvenile dermatomyositis in February 2007, roughly four-and-a-half years after Thing 1 received hers.
In the years that followed, this teenager with a love of sports and being outdoors lost his ability to walk. Cole endured multiple abdominal surgeries to deal with gastrointestinal issues caused by the disease and its medicinal treatments. Yet as recently as the fall, he still managed a full course load at school and compiled a 4.0 GPA.
Earlier this month, Cole went into the hospital with pneumonia.
Yesterday, we received this e-mail written by his parents:
“Hello friends and family,
Cole went to be with the Lord at 7 p.m. tonight. It was very peaceful. Cole is free now to run ... jump ... play baseball ... everything a 15 year old boy should be able to do. …”
Cole is the third child with a form of juvenile myositis that our family has come to know since Thing 1’s diagnosis to die from this rare autoimmune disease or its complications.
Three.
When only three in a million children are diagnosed annually in the United States with this disease, that little number grows exponentially in your worried head every time your child coughs or sneezes or scraps a knee.
Please help prevent more deaths of children like Cole by continuing to vote every day this month to help Cure JM, the only national nonprofit dedicated to supporting children with juvenile myositis and their families, win a $250,000 Pepsi Refresh grant.
That $250,000 equals half our volunteer group’s annual budget, a budget raised solely through fundraising done by the family and friends of JM children. Every penny of that grant is set to pay for research into finding the cause and cure of juvenile myositis, juvenile dermatomyositis and other forms of JM diseases.
Right now, we are No. 2 in the standings – we need to hold this position until Sept. 1 to win the grant money. The only way that can happen is with your help.
You can vote up to 3 TIMES, every day, during the month of August!
(1) Send a text vote: Text 100850 to Pepsi (73774) (standard text messaging rate apply)
(2) Use the Facebook app: http://bit.ly/CureJMonFB
(3) Vote directly from the Pepsi website site for our Cure JM and its affiliated causes at http://pep.si/CureJMKidstoWin5
I vote everyday.
ReplyDeleteI hope only the best for Cole's family and Thing's future.
So sorry for your loss.
Absolutely heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely voting my arse off...
Sigh....let's VOTE!
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki :)
Comfort Spiral
Touching post. Thank you for the reminder. I have voted (early and often). We can get this done!
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI vote five times a day. Hope we get to #1. If we win, I will only drink Pepsi from here on out. Even if I am admitted to the hospital for a gun shot wound I will refuse IV solution and demand Pepsi!
Or when the waitress says:" Ohhh....sorry no Pepsi..is Coke ok?"
"NO!! Coke is NOT OK!! I want Pepsi dammit!!!"
I don't mess around.
:-)
Ok, gotta go vote.
That's terrible.
ReplyDeleteOff to vote. Early and often.
Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteVotingVotingVoting.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Godspeed to Cole and thoughts and prayers to his family.
ReplyDeleteI've been voting through all 4 FB accounts I have access to, but I'll be adding text voting to the rotation now too. Let's finish this.
One child is one to many. My heart goes out to Cole's Family.
ReplyDeleteHave put the Middle School Texting Society to work on this one.
Off to vote myself.
Dammit dammit dammit all to hell! I'm so sorry for your loss, the Cole's loss, and the world's loss of this child. Cursing and crying up here on the deck.
ReplyDeleteEarlier, I registered more email accounts. Voting my arse off and being a bully on my blog.
tears. literally. accompanied with chills. off to vote. for thing 1. for everyone.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
sobering
ReplyDeleteI come from Cheryl's blog, Deckside Thoughts. This is horrible. I voted.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, great post. I am so sad to hear about Cole. I will keep his family and yours in our thoughts and prayers. My daughter was diagnosed with JDM this year, and we are voting!
ReplyDeleteVoting like it's going outta style!
ReplyDeleteHere via The Bloggess. I voted, happily, for your cause. Will you vote for one I support? It's a bilingual website (English & ASL) for Deaf kids and their families. Nothing too out-there.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.refresheverything.com/4deaftoddlers