One Small Step for Prader-Willi Syndrome Walk coming to HHS April 30

photo Soddy-Daisy residents Dianne Bryden, left, and her son Fisher Bryden, 4, hang out on the playground at Siskin School. Photo by Katie Ward

North Hamilton residents that like to walk for a good cause are being recruited for the first-ever One Small Step for Prader-Willi Syndrome Walk, to be held at Hixson High School April 30. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10.

"The One Small Step Walk is to raise awareness and money to find a cure for Prader-Willi Syndrome," said Soddy-Daisy's Dianne Bryden, whose son Fisher Bryden, 4, suffers from PWS. "All money raised will go to research to find a cure for PWS."

She said the walk is free, but participants must raise $40 to receive a T-shirt and loop bag. Walkers will travel around the school building, down the parking lot to the school entrance and back, totaling one mile.

Walk raffle prizes include gift certificates to Chole Hair Colour and Design, Serenity Nails, Lifeway, Creative Discovery Museum and Academy Sports. The international grand prize for raising $500 for PWS gives walkers a chance to win an XBox 360.

Hixson's Starbucks will provide coffee at the walk. Fruit, MoonPies and water will be also be available to walkers.

Bryden said she formed a Prader-Willi Syndrome Tennessee Chapter one year ago to raise awareness that PWS exists.

"May is Prader-Willi Awareness month in the United States," she said. "PWS is a non-hereditary condition found at birth."

About Fisher's PWS condition

Bryden said her son's symptoms began when he could not move a finger at birth. She said he had to be taught how to move.

About Prader-Willi SyndromePrader-Willi Syndrome is a randomly occurring, complex genetic disorder that affects approximately one out of every 12,000 to 15,000 births. It affects males and females of all races and is recognized as a common cause of childhood obesity. PWS is a complex, life-threatening medical disorder that affects the body's hormone system, muscle strength, cognition and learning, behavior and appetite, and pain, sleep and temperature regulation. Behavior problems are common and worsened by an unrelenting, overriding physiological drive to eat.• To learn more about the walk or PWS, contact Dianne Bryden at 413-1568 or email her at dbrydenrpr@comcast.net. To learn more in general about PWS, visit www.PWS-TN.org or visit www.fpwr.org. To register for the walk online go to http://www.firstgiving.com/fpwr/Event/onesmallstep_Chattanooga, create a personal page and invite others to join the walk.

She said between the ages of 2 to 5, the brain's hypothalamus no longer tells a child with PWS when to stop eating, so Fisher never feels full and wants to eat all the time. She said she monitors his diet, allowing him to eat 800 to 1,000 calories per day. She said his metabolism is slow due to PWS.

She said through classes at Siskin School in downtown Chattanooga Fisher is learning to talk more.

"I have a very happy child," she said. "He smiles all the time and gives hugs. He loves music and likes to be read to."

Bryden said she knows of two other children in the Chattanooga area with PWS, but hopes to locate more.

"We want to raise money and awareness, so that no child with PWS falls through the cracks," said Bryden.

Walk funds will be given to the Prader-Willi Syndrome Foundation.

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