A sea of purple filled Canton Waterfront Park over the weekend for the Walk to End Lupus Now, raising awareness and funds for research, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to the wmar2. WMAR-2 News returned as the media partner, with Kara Burnett serving as the event emcee. Together, participants exceeded their fundraising goal, collecting more than $65,000 for lupus research.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease affecting over 1.5 million Americans, attacking healthy organs and tissues and often causing severe and debilitating pain.
One family participated in the walk to honor their daughter, Kiva, who lost her life to lupus.
“It attacked her organs, her heart, so a lot of the things that she was used to doing she couldn’t do anymore because she had to go to dialysis three days out of the week,” said Judy Bellamy, Kiva’s mother.
“Kiva forever. I’m sorry, I’m trying to hold my tears. Um, I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I love you. I love you. I love you,” said Sierra Claridy, Kiva’s cousin.
The fight against lupus continues. The Lupus Foundation’s DMV chapter stated that donations will be accepted through October 20th. Upcoming events include the walk in Washington D.C. on September 27th, followed by Richmond on October 11th.
Earlier we wrote that man dies after shooting in West Baltimore, police investigating.