By DAVID BREWER

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. — Nine-year-old Brett Lacy of Henagar said he knows what it’s like to hurt and to be too embarrassed to tell anyone about it, especially when it results in teasing from other children.

That’s why he said it’s important for him to urge those children who also suffer from psoriatic arthritis to talk about it and encourage others.

Brett, a fourth-grader at Pisgah Elementary, was diagnosed with the juvenile disease about a year ago. But the symptoms were apparent as early as age 4 when he would complain about his legs hurting, said his mother, Melanie Lacy.

She said she had become frustrated with her son’s unwillingness to discuss his pain with anyone else but her.

“It was almost like I was making it up because I was the only one who knew,” Lacy said.

But she said her sister Melissa Zech realized how much Brett was suffering when just the two of them had been shopping in a local department store and he suddenly told her it was too painful for him to continue walking.

Lacy said a local family physician who examined Brett had her take him to a specialist at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, where tests showed problems with Brett’s immune system. Nothing revealed the source of his pain.

Despite the pain, her son played baseball and football. But as the pain became worse, he asked to be taken out of games, but insisted on remaining in the dugout or on the sidelines with the team.

“He did not want his teammates to think anything was wrong,” she said.

It was not until more tests were done in November 2008 that it was determined her son had a chronic illness.

“It broke my heart,” she said. “But at least we finally had an answer” for why he was in pain.

A specialist recommended that her son attend Camp MASH (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting) in Mobile to meet other children afflicted with the same disease.

Sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation, the summer camp experience has led to her son helping other patients and raising money for finding a cure, Lacy said.

“While at camp, I saw a lot of other boys and girls who were just like me,” including several who were hurting more, he said. “Before camp, I didn’t want anyone to know what I had.”

He said he had become embarrassed about his illness after some children at his school had been teasing him about it.

Today, Brett said he’s as proud to talk about his condition as he is to wear the gold-colored key he earned for his efforts in raising money for the foundation.

On Dec. 5, Brett and his mother will participate in the Arthritis Foundation’s 2009 Jingle Bell Run/Walk in Birmingham.

“My mom wants to walk, but I’m going to run,” he said.