What the Benaroya Research Institute means to me

Hi Everyone,

My daughter Lauren has five autoimmune diseases, each one a story of despair, courage and inspiration. When she was four years old she developed Type 1 Diabetes. Her body had attacked her pancreas, and she needs insulin to stay alive. When she was 12 she developed Raynaud’s Disease, very uncomfortable but not terribly serious for her. At age 16 and cheerleader, patches of her long curly blond hair fell out and she was diagnosed with Alopecia – her body had attacked her hair follicles. At age 18, a college freshman at Seattle U, she cried as she called to tell me she could not get out of bed, much less run to class. She was diagnosed with ankelosing spondylitis, an inflammatory joint disease – again, her body had attacked itself. At age 23, after years of periodic stomach pain, she was diagnosed with celiac disease – her body attacked her small intestine.

Along the way we learned that these are all autoimmune diseases, where something in your body mysteriously attacks itself, killing and destroying good healthy organs and cells. Then I learned that the commonality of these diseases – and of 80 others including MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus – were being studied at a high-tech, world-class research institute right here in Seattle. This was a lightbulb moment for me, and I decided to get involved and help BRI raise funds to find the cause and cure of all these diseases, and prevent others from getting them. I later joined the Board.

It is BRI’s extraordinary internationally-recognized research on the commonality of these diseases that makes them such a compelling research institute to support. Please join me in supporting BRI autoimmune disease research by making a contribution in any amount. Contribute $1000 and be my house guest in Princeville, Kauai for five days:)

Learn more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_cQV5yHue4&feature=youtu.be
Read more at www.benaroyaresearch.org.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks,
Jessica
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[email protected]
206.227.4335