Bailey Warren is shown with Dr. Prescott Atkinson of Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. Atkinson recently received the Earl Brewer Award for Physician Leadership.

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



A Fultondale family is making a big impact in raising awareness of a little-known childhood disease.

Steve and Kim Warren participated this spring in an Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Walk in Birmingham.

They formed a team called Bailey’s Buddies to participate in the event.

The team was named for their 3-year-old daughter Bailey Warren, who was diagnosed last year with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).

With a goal of raising $3,000, the Bailey’s Buddies team was the top fundraiser for the event, raising $4,600, according to Kim Warren.

The efforts of Bailey’s family and friends helped launch another fund-raising effort in Bailey’s name.

According to Warren, Walker County Hospital in Jasper will take part in another arthritis walk in September.

Inspired by a video of Bailey, which can be found on her Web site at www.thewarrens-baileysmama.blogspot.com, that team is also using the name of Bailey’s Buddies.

Kim Warren said that she and her family were thrilled to have another team to raise funds and awareness in Bailey’s name.

The Warren family has also been doing some traveling in connection with Bailey’s disease.

They recently attended the 2008 Juvenile Arthritis Conference in Costa Mesa, California.

“We learned a lot, some disturbing, but we’re still trying to be hopeful,” Kim Warren said.

At the conference, Bailey got to help give back to one of her doctors.

Dr. Prescott Atkinson of Children’s Hospital in Birmingham received the Earl Brewer Award for Physician Leadership at the conference.

“Bailey was on stage to help present this to him,” said Warren.

The family found out last year that Bailey has juvenile arthritis after the child woke up one morning with a red, swollen knee.

Warren thought her daughter had simply fallen, but it turned out to be the onset of JRA.

Another effect of JRA is that it can cause eye problems, and sometimes even blindness.