Homewood resident to be honored at Jingle Bell Run

As a part of the Arthritis Foundation’s initiative to raise funds for arthritis research, the Birmingham chapter will host its annual Jingle Bell Run in Railroad Park on Dec. 8.

The 29-year-old event will include a one-mile fun run, a 5K run and a Santa Chase, where children will be chased by Santa Claus. Activities begin at 8 a.m. and the 5K begins at 9 a.m.

The annual event also spotlights an honoree each year.

Cooper Wallace is this year’s honoree for the Jingle Bell Run. The 11-year-old Homewood resident was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis when he was 7 years old.

“It’s hard because you’re in pain,” Cooper said, “and at first it would hurt for me to go up a hill. But, I thought everyone felt that way, so I never really called it out until it started getting worse and I got a fever.”

Cooper’s mother, Meg Wallace, took him to a hospital where after multiple tests it was discovered that he was living with JIA. Since then, he has been on a regimen of medications to manage the condition.

Cooper said the condition places limitations for him – he is no longer able to play sports – but added that he has not lost hope in his situation.

“I realized that I’m not the only one with it,” he said, “and there’s no need to lose hope because you can push through it.”

Having JIA has posed some challenges for Cooper academically, his mother said. Cooper has missed 117 days of school within the past 3 years, his mother said.

“He averages about 41 [missed] days of school a year, partly because he’s on a DNA inhibitor and biologic, which weakens his immune system,” she said. “For Cooper, if it’s a rainy day and the barometric pressure is changing, he can’t function or he can’t write.”

Cooper currently attends Advent Episcopal School, a 310-student school operated by Cathedral Church of the Advent. On days when holding a pencil is painful, Cooper is able to use a laptop in class.

“But now the whole grade is using it so he doesn’t feel as singled out,” Wallace said.

The bigger challenge is facing and addressing misunderstandings about arthritis and how it affects children, Wallace said.

“He’s stinking cute and looks like he doesn’t have anything wrong with him,” Wallace said. “You wouldn’t know he has chronic pain.”

Cooper said this challenge is not unique to him. Nearly 300,000 people under the age of 18 are living with arthritis, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

“We look very healthy,” Cooper said. “We usually have our medicines to help. Even before we are diagnosed, we look like everyone else. But, then they look on the inside and see ‘oh, his knees are inflamed,’ and then everything opens up.”

Wallace said she and Cooper are working with the Arthritis Foundation to draw attention to the challenges arthritis creates specifically for children.

“He’s a face to help people understand that arthritis affects children as well as adults,” Wallace said.

Wallace added that the Jingle Bell Run is also an opportunity to support the Arthritis Foundation financially to help fund research about arthritis.

“It’s a lot on a lot of these families to manage keeping up with the medications,” Wallace said, “and it’s likely that these kids will be on these medications for a lifetime.” Cooper’s medications would cost about $4,500 a month without insurance, she said.

Cooper and his team, Cooper’s Troopers, will participate in the Jingle Bell Run to raise funds for families to cover the cost of medications for children living with arthritis. The team wants to raise $300,000 by Dec. 9. Cooper will not run in the event this year, but he said he will ride a bike while his friends run alongside him in solidarity.

“I’ve been going through a lot of tough times recently with arthritis and thinking I can’t do it, so I don’t want to be an inspiration for other kids with arthritis. I just want to be one of the people helping to lead the way to purification,” Cooper said. “We can push through everything.”

For more information about the Jingle Bell Run or to learn more about Cooper’s fundraising efforts, visit www.jbr.org.