ALTON — The annual Walk for Sickle Cell garnered much success at its fifth year Sept. 16 at Rock Spring Park. A mother's mission to increase awareness about the disease and its impact has been behind the event since it began in 2013.
More than 125 attendees from 38 sponsoring teams walked up College Avenue hill near Alton Memorial Hospital and back down through the park on a one-mile journey to spread the word about the disease and raise funds for research and a cure.
Rhonda Brown, a first-time walker with Argosy Casino Alton's team, said she was participating "to find out more and to increase awareness." She said that was the shared sentiment of the entire seven-member team.
Nonprofit group A Precious Organization coordinates Alton's annual walk, and at its helm is mom Tammy Smith. Most Altonians know Smith as the city's 4th Ward alderwoman, but she is also the parent of a daughter with the disease — first diagnosed as "simply the flu" by a local hospital 30 years ago.
Smith's daughter, Precious, was three years old when the family finally learned the reason their little girl wasn't eating.
"Her joints were aching and her stomach hurt," said Eva Perkins, Smith's aunt.
"No one knew Precious had sickle cell; Cardinal Glennon finally figured it out," Jackie Ruffin, Precious' grandmother, added.
"I need to thank everyone that participated, volunteered, or made a donation of any kind," Smith said.