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Published Tuesday, February 07, 2012 in Close-Up

Special

Colin and Samantha DePriest cross the finish line of a past race to raise funds for cystic fibrosis research.

Family and friends running to find cure for Cystic Fibrosis

By Nichole Golden

The Newnan Times-Herald

Colin DePriest of Newnan is just three years old yet already knows that daily inhaled treatments are just part of his routine.

"It's kind of like brushing your teeth," said Colin's mom, Samantha DePriest.

Colin was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a newborn. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease affecting several organs, but especially the lungs. Patients are prone to breathing problems and lung infections.

Since the diagnosis, Samantha and Chris DePriest, and their extended family and friends, have been working hard to raise money for CF research.

"Team Colin" has held fundraisers including Spirit Nights at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House, the Home Run Derby with Braves pitcher Tim Hudson, quarterly clean-ups through the Keep Newnan Beautiful campaign and also the annual Great Strides walks benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

DePriest says that in the last few months, a new CF drug (Kalydeco) has been announced that may help target the exact genetic defect. The research was made possible through donations nationwide.

"They are heading in the right direction," said DePriest about the research.

Colin has been relatively healthy these in his three years of life, but this past fall took a turn. After almost two months of being sick and many antibiotics, he was taken to Egleston for multiple x-rays and a CT scan. Colin's CF doctor discovered that he had inflammation and swelling in his bronchial tubes and the start of bronchiectasis in his lower left lung. Colin has since started the new daily inhaled treatment twice a day when healthy and four times a day when sick. The treatment's goal is to lessen the damage caused to the lungs.

Despite having CF, Colin is an energetic boy and plays soccer with the Cannons Micro program in Newnan. He loves all things related to Disney Cars, especially Lightning McQueen. Samantha said Colin stays active as they have never really presented his disease as a "way out."

The DePriests have now turned their fundraising efforts to the running of both a 5K, and a half marathon the weekend of March 17-18 in Atlanta.

"This year we are overwhelmed by the growing number of friends (both old and new) who are committing themselves to running a half marathon (13.1 miles) with us (www.milesforcysticfibrosis.org) this March in Atlanta at the Georgia marathon," said Samantha.

On Saturday, March 17, DePriest will run the 5K with her oldest son Dylan. The next day, she will tackle the half-marathon "with thirty of my closest friends."

Many of the individuals have established their own fundraising pages for "Team Colin" at razoo.com.

Easy ways to donate include:

www.milesforcysticfibrosis.org/donate.php?event=q42tsx960d

or

www.razoo.com/story/Running-For-A-Reason-13-1-For-Our-Littlest-One/share .

The DePriest family will be having a pre-race pasta dinner for all of those participating in the event.

"We feel so blessed to live in such a supportive and compassionate community," said DePriest. "With so much suffering and struggling going on in this world, we stand in awe and are completely humbled by those who will set their troubles aside all to help give us more tomorrows with our little guy."

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