STAR - Thevalleystar.net

March 22, 2011 the valley star Page 19
The Valley Star | feature
11-year-old East child fighting MS
arch is the month of basketball’s
“March Madness,”
but across our
community and the United States,
March is National Multiple Sclerosis
Awareness month. Caring individuals
are working diligently to
raise awareness for the number
one disabling disease of young
Americans. One such individual,
11-year-old Austin Harm of East
Limestone County, has already
formed his annual MS Walk Team
and has raised more than $3,400
towards his 2012 goal of $6,300.
iagnosed in 2009 with the disbling
disease of MS, Austin is one
f the rare 8,000 to 10,000 Amercan
children under the age of 18
iagnosed with the disease. Norally
affecting individuals between
the ages of 20-50 and twice
as many women as men, MS is an
unpredictable and often disabling
disease of the central nervous system.
Symptoms range from numbness
to blindness and paralysis.
With MS, symptoms result when
inflammation and breakdown
occur in the myelin, the protective
insulation surrounding the nerve
fibers of the brain and spinal cord.
Myelin is destroyed and replaced
by multiple “sclerotic” or scars of
hardened tissue. MS affects more
than 400,000 Americans and 2.5
million people worldwide. Over
4,100 people live with the disease
in Alabama.
Harm first displayed symptoms of
the disease at the age of six when
he awoke to the inability walk. It
wasn’t until the age eight that a
pediatric neurologist in Birmingham
was able to diagnose his
symptoms as MS. Thanks to medication
that helps control some of
the symptoms, he is able to live a
fairly active life. He is able to enjoy
his favorite past time of swimming
and just received the highest
honor awarded to a Cub Scout, the
Arrow of Light.
In 2011, Harm and his family
formed the Huntsville MS Walk
Team, “Kidz Get MS 2,” in order to
raise awareness and funds that
help provide direct services to
those living with the disease and
support vital research into a cure
for the disease. His team raised
over $3,700 last year and this year
his sights are set on $6,300,
which represents the 6,300 people
living with MS that are served
by the Alabama-Mississippi Chapter
of the National Multiple Sclerosis
Society.
Although battling crippling fatigue,
numbness and difficulty walking at
times, Harm has never let the disease
get him down. Last year he
raised over $250 for the Chapter
through an old-fashioned lemonade
stand operated with the help
of his younger brother. He has also
participated in numerous public
speaking engagements where he
has told his story in an effort to
raise awareness and funds for vital
MS research.
“I won’t stop walking, I won’t stop
raising money until the doctors
find a cure, “ he said. “I never want
another kid to hear a doctor tell
Austin Harm
them they have MS.”
Currently, there is no cure for the
disabling disease. MS stops people
from moving, but the National
MS Society exists to make sure it
doesn’t. The annual Huntsville MS
Walk is scheduled for April 28th at
the beautiful Huntsville Botanical
Gardens. To join more than 600
walkers dedicated to ending this
devastating disease, or to find out
other ways to help, visit
www.walkms.org or call 1-800-
FIGHT MS.
Covering North Alabama With Quality Electrical Work
RESIDENTIAL
COMMERCIAL
Licensed, Insured, and Workman’s Comp
FREE ESTIMATES
256-206-5776
www.trelectrical.com
MarionStreet
church of Christ
Sunday 9:30 am Classes
Sunday 10:30 am Worship Service
Wednesday 6:30 pm. Classes for all ages.
ANNOUNCING
Gospel Meeting May 13-16, 2012
Speaker Tony Mauck “Focus on the Family”
Quarterly Singing April 21st at 7:00 p.m.
www.marionstreet.org
email: jeremiah.mcelyea@yahoo.com
124 North Marion Street • Athens, AL 35611
256-232-1786 256-233-0848