|
King Weekly Sentinel https://kingsentinel.com/?p=4606 Export date: Thu Nov 21 11:51:06 2024 / +0000 GMT |
A day for James fundraiser James Dizon suffers from a rare degenerative disease. A fundraiser was recently held to support him and his family. Shown with the family are Jeanine Beatty with the Oak Ridges Retirement Community and Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow. Photo by S. Mulholland By Chris McGowan The Oak Ridges retirement community 1 hosted a fundraiser recently for a very deserving youngster. The event was held Aug. 23 for James Dizon and was attended by residents from the retirement home, the Dizon family and Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow. James is 10 years old now and is one of seven children in the Dizon family. He was diagnosed with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Professiva (FOP) at the age of 5. FOP is a disease that causes the body's repair abilities to become ossified (turn into bone or bony tissue). Injuries can cause fibrous tissue, muscle, tendon and ligaments to become permanently frozen. Extra bone growth occurs frequently and surgery can cause more bone growth as the body attempts to repair itself. Debbie Dizon, James's mother explained the challenges of getting a diagnosis with his rare disease. “It was heart-wrenching” said Debbie. “He could not move and he was crying a lot as the doctors at Sick Kids could not figure it out.” Finally, her eldest son found the disease on the internet and the symptoms matched James. They presented the details to Sick Kids again and the physicians concurred it was FOP. Since the diagnosis, the Dizon Family keeps trying to find ways to help James and make him feel better. He attends school, but cannot partake in regular exercise with other children in case he becomes injured. In an attempt to help her son, Debbie knocked on Oak Ridges Retirement Community residence door and spoke to marketing manager, Jeanine Beatty, who allowed James and his family to use the pool at the retirement home. Once the resident community at Oak Ridges caught wind of James they all agreed a fundraiser should be held there to raise money so the family can purchase Thor. Thor is a dog that is trained to help James with daily tasks that come second nature for most people. “They wanted to do more for James,” said Beatty when talking about the retirement community. As a result of this initiative, Oak Ridges has started the Grand Parents Program, which allows the seniors within the retirement community give back and help out where they can. If you are interested in making a donation to help James contact info@Oakridgerestirement.com or call 905-773-4220 or you can make a donation to FOP directly at http://www.cfopn.org. |
| Excerpt: The Oak Ridges Retirement Community hosted a fundraiser recently for a very deserving youngster. |
Links:
|
|
Post date: 2014-08-26 16:29:17 Post date GMT: 2014-08-26 20:29:17 Post modified date: 2014-09-09 14:21:36 Post modified date GMT: 2014-09-09 18:21:36 |
|
Export date: Thu Nov 21 11:51:06 2024 / +0000 GMT This page was exported from King Weekly Sentinel [ https://kingsentinel.com ] Export of Post and Page has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.ProfProjects.com |
