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Jordan High School senior Jack Friedges will serve as the 2017 Walk to Cure Juvenile Arthritis Young Adult Honoree this weekend at the Mall of America.

Walk to Cure Juvenile Arthritis brings together communities nationwide to fight arthritis the nations leading cause of disability.

In the U.S., more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children live with arthritis. Costing the U.S. economy $156 billion dollars a year, arthritis affects one in five Americans and causes more activity limitation than heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

Friedges, age 17, was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in 2014. His parents believe he had signs of JIA throughout his childhood but attributed them to other causes. Friedges was very active; he was and continues to be a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and his favorite sport, baseball.

At age 13, Friedges started complaining about odd sensations in his hands and that his fingers were big, fat and did not work. Friedges and his parents thought his sore hands were related to his active life.

Eventually, Friedges mom started noticing more and more that he was not using his hands. His brother would change the fishing line for him, he had trouble tying his shoes or buttoning his shirts and she saw how much Friedges was relying on his brother to do these tasks for him. Over several months, Friedges was officially diagnosed with JIA and his pain started to intensify and spread to his hands, feet, knees, elbows, shoulders and back.

Although Friedges optimistic attitude was unbeatable, it was a difficult time for their family. After six months of pain, Friedges medication started working and his pain and swelling decreased dramatically. Friedges has taken charge of his health, learning about his medication side effects and what triggers swelling or pain.

He does all this while being the most positive member of our family when it comes to this diagnosis, says Friedges mom. His strength to move on, stay positive and be in control of his life is astonishing.

Friedges, as the Young Adult Honoree, and his family want to help raise money for a cure as well as spread awareness about JIA. They may be uncertain of Friedges future but appreciate the resources, education and hope that the Arthritis Foundation has provided them. They are positive that JIA will not define Friedges future and he will be the champion of his own life.

See more here:
Jack Friedges named Arthritis Foundation 2017 Young Adult Honoree - SW News Media

This entry was posted on March 1, 2017 at 7:47 am and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |