Comox Valley residents are invited to help local youngster Amethyst Hamersley – and thousands of others affected by the fatal genetic disease – battle cystic fibrosis.Play It Again Music Recycle, behind the Beachwood Café at 106-2270 Cliffe Ave., will host an afternoon barbeque May 19 to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Canada.Drop by between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to buy a burger or hot dog supplied by the Butcher’s Block; your lunch will support research to find a cure or effective control for cystic fibrosis.The barbeque kicks off Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s largest annual fundraising event, Great Strides. Along with her team, Amethyst’s Gemstones, Hamersley will take steps to cure cystic fibrosis by participating in the sponsored walk on May 27.A pledge sheet will be available. To learn more about the annual event, visit www.cysticfibrosis.ca/greatstrides.Emily Wisden, owner of Play It Again Music Recycle, offers Hamersley enthusiastic praise for her efforts. Hamersley, who will turn 13 this June, “is one of the most vibrant young women” Wisden has ever encountered.“She loves hockey and plays all kinds of sports … She’s my total inspiration for this,” says Wisden.Hamersley works hard to maintain her health; in addition to building her physical fitness, she follows a strict, daily regimen of physiotherapy and antibiotic treatments to ward off lung infections.Cystic fibrosis is a currently incurable, multi-organ disease primarily affecting the lungs and digestive tract. The illness forces mucus to build up in the lungs, causing increasingly severe respiratory problems.Virtually all cystic fibrosis-related deaths are due to lung disease. Mucus and protein also accumulate in the digestive disease, impairing the body’s ability to digest and absorb nutrients in food. Cystic fibrosis sufferers must consequently consume digestive enzymes (about 20 pills daily) to avoid malnutrition.Research has done much for those living with cystic fibrosis. A child diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in the 1960s was not expected to live beyond kindergarten.When Hamersley was born, the average expected life span was 20. Today, thanks to advances in nutrition, antibiotic, and physical therapy, sufferers of cystic fibrosis are living into their 40s and beyond.Approximately 3,500 Canadians are battling the disease.

Comox Valley Record