CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte teen living with an incurable disease is spreading the message that even with a disease, you can still live a normal life.
She’s serving as the honored hero for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation fundraiser walk next month.
Six years ago, Sophie had constant stomach aches and never felt well.
“I would be tired all the time, and I wouldn't have a lot of energy towards anything,” Sophie said.
What her parents dismissed as nerves over going to school, turned out to be very serious.
Doctors diagnosed her with Crohn's disease which attacks the digestive system.
“She was very inflamed. And when you're inflamed in your small intestine, you don't absorb nutrients or food. That’s why she wasn't gaining weight. That’s why she was really anemic and really tired,” Sophie’s mother Amy Marx said.
Now, Sophie is in clinical remission and active in sports, like tennis.
Sophie is serving as this year's honored hero for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Take Steps Walk.
Her fundraising team, named Sophie’s Cyclones, has been raising money for CCF since 2011.
Sophie said she wants to spread the message that while she feels great with medication, more research is needed about these diseases.
“There's medicine, but it's not curable. That’s why we're doing this walk to raise money,” Sophie said
“I really hope when she's an adult and God forbid one of her kids might have this, there's a cure, not just a way to treat it,” Amy Marx said.
Children are the fastest-growing population of CCF patients.
As the honored hero, Sophie wants kids to know they're not alone.
“I get to share with other kids like me that -- I have this problem. and even if you have this problem, life will work itself out,” Sophie said.
Channel 9 is a media sponsor for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Take Steps Walk.
The walk will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 3, in Symphony Park.
Channel 9 meteorologist Keith Monday is an emcee for the event.
Find out more about the event, here.