Teen shares story, raises awareness about Crohn’s & Colitis

Local 17-year-old Avery Link is using this year’s Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Take Steps Las Vegas walk at Mountain’s Edge to raise awareness about Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, including where people with the conditions can find help.

Collectively, these inflammatory bowel diseases are often referred to as “silent diseases,” because many sufferers are embarrassed to talk about them. Link is the event’s Honored Hero and invites the community to join her fight to find a cure on Saturday, April 29, at the master plan’s Exploration Park.

Link has battled Crohn’s disease since she was 2 years old. As a baby, her parents searched for answers about why she had high fevers that would last a week, but there was no solution, and she finally outgrew the fevers at age 5.

Several years later, a couple of visits to the emergency room ruled out appendicitis. Just as Link began high school, she was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain and possible appendicitis. A colonoscopy revealed Crohn’s disease. Medication, injections and a strict diet have kept her from having flare-ups, but she admits the routine is difficult to follow, especially as a teenager.

“I try not to let my Crohn’s disease completely take over my life,” she said. “I wish to continue sharing my story and helping those around me, as well as educating others about this condition. My goal is to go to college so I can become a gastroenterologist to help others like me with Crohn’s.”

In addition to the walk, Take Steps festivities will include live music, refreshments, kids entertainment, raffle prizes, booths, information, park activities and more. Well-behaved, leashed pets are welcome.

A $50 donation per person is encouraged to celebrate the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s 50th anniversary in providing support to patients. Every participant who raises $100 or more will receive a 2017 commemorative T-shirt, a Take Steps keepsake to carry on walk day and a wristband for refreshments.

Take Steps Las Vegas’ 2017 goal is raising nearly $50,000 to further the mission and improve the quality of life of children and adults who suffer from the diseases. Take Steps Las Vegas is sponsored by Abbvie, Mountain’s Edge master-planned community, City National Bank and UnitedHealthcare.

To register prior to the event, organize a team or get involved, visit cctakesteps.org/lasvegas2017, or contact Breanna Baer at bbaer@ccfa.org or 909-717-1888.

Check-in and festivities begin at 9 a.m., with the community walk at 10 a.m. Exploration Park is at 9700 S. Buffalo Drive, just south of Blue Diamond Road.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is the largest voluntary nonprofit health organization dedicated to finding IBD cures and has invested $267 million in research. The foundation works to fulfill its mission not only by funding research but through providing educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals and the public, as well as furnishing supportive services for those afflicted with IBD.

For more information, visit ccfa.org, call 888-694-8872 or email info@ccfa.org.