Help Nicholas raise money

Hello!  My name is Nicholas and I have a Rheumatic Disease.

I am 9 years old and this is my 5th year running a race with my family, friends and medical team to help raise awareness and fundraise for kids with Rheumatic Diseases (check out my OG race pic with my sisters, lol!).  This year I am hoping to run the 5km race in the 2025 Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope! 

Thanks for coming to read my story and learn about my journey. I hope that you will consider joining or supporting Team Cassie+Friends to help raise awareness for kids like me.  

Something a lot of people don't know about me, or they don't believe, is that I have a chronic disease.  Sadly my body doesn't work the way most peoples' bodies do.  Instead of my immune system only working to fight bad guys like germs, it's broken and confused and attacks the good guys too - my healthy joints and bones.  For me, it has especially affected my knees, ankles and feet. The years of inflammation and struggling to find the right treatments have unfortunately caused some permanent physical defects that I work very hard to compensate for (and why I wear my knee brace to play sports!) 

I see a lot of doctors, take a lot of medication and get a lot of needles to try and keep my immune system working properly and to manage the pain and inflammation. Last year we even counted - I've taken over 1500 pills, received over 600 injections, had 3 surgeries and done thousands of hours of physiotherapy & rehabilitation !  

I am so grateful that because of my treatments I am usually able to run and skate and play the way my friends do!

Go Bulldogs!  Go Bayhawks!  Go Mavericks!

Cassie and Friends is a National Organization that supports kids with Rheumatic Diseases by raising awareness, creating support and connection opportunities and funding research. I really like seeing everyone at Cassie and Friends because there are other boys and girls just like me.  It is helpful to hear how they overcome obstacles and to try their ideas.  

Cassie and Friends makes our family feel not so alone.

I was diagnosed when I was just a baby so this is all I have ever known, but I really hope for there to be a cure one day so I won't have this disease anymore.

Please join my family as we lace up with our friends from McMaster Children's Hospital, Kids Physio Group and TD Bank for the Hamilton Marathon in support of Cassie and Friends and kids just like me!