THUNDER BAY - Even though walking for extended periods can cause Brookelynn Jean pain in her hips, on Sunday she walked through the rain for her nana, who suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. And now, at the age of 25, Jean is undergoing testing to see if she will also be diagnosed with the condition.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “Just to think about how much pain you can go through, I wouldn’t want to know what it was like for my nana going through it my whole life.”
Jean was one of dozens of walkers taking part in the 2018 Arthritis Society Walk to Fight Arthritis on Sunday at Marina Park.
Walks were held in cities across Canada and organizers with the Arthritis Society of Thunder Bay said it is their biggest fundraiser of the year, bringing in between $15,000 and $20,000 for research and awareness.
For Debbie Dushnicky, a member of the organizing committee with the Arthritis Society of Thunder Bay, it is important to educate the public that arthritis is not something that only impacts older individuals.
“I have a daughter who was diagnosed at 18 months,” she said. “Not everyone knows that that is possible. I didn’t before it happened. But she is doing well and the Arthritis Society has been invaluable to me, directing me where to go, what to do, what questions to ask.”
There are many different types of arthritis, including juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. The cause or age of someone diagnosed can vary depending on type, but common symptoms often include severe pain and inflammation in the joints.
“It affects your whole life and sometimes you can end up becoming bed ridden and can’t do anything,” Dushnicky said. “My daughter, as a little baby, went from walking to crawling because she couldn’t walk it was so painful. She had it in 32 joints.”
Jean, who is still awaiting further testing, said she experiences joint pain mostly in her hands, but also in her hips when walking. But despite the pain, she has come out to the Walk to Fight Arthritis for the last three years, along with her children, Cooper and Laina, to not only help raise awareness for arthritis, but support the organization that has helped her family so much.
“They’ve been there for my nana,” she said. “We’ve always supported the arthritis society ever since my nana. I don’t know what I would do without them.”
And Jean is thankful to see people continuing to come out and support the walk, even in the rain, because she can see the faces of those who may be suffering from a chronic and painful condition, or caring for a family member.
Whoever someone may be walking for, each step taken is another one to help fight arthritis, and whatever happens for Jean, she is thankful she will never be walking alone.
“The way it happens in my family is it skips a generation, so I have to keep an eye out for my kids, which extremely worries me,” she said. “If my daughter were to have it right now, I don’t know what I would do to cope with it. I would have to have some kind of help and knowing that there is this organization is great.”
