Seventeen-year-old Julia Zinkin from Melville is motivating the local community to find cures by participating in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Long Island Take Steps. This year’s event takes place on Sunday, May 5 at 11 am at Belmont Lake State Park in W. Babylon. Julia is one of many living with Crohn’s disease and/or ulcerative colitis which are painful, debilitating digestive diseases affecting millions of American adults and children.
Julia was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age thirteen and since then has undergone three hospitalizations and two surgeries.
“Young patients, like me, need to know that we aren’t alone. This walk is extremely important to me as a patient because it is a symbol of the great support that the IBD community needs” says Julia. Julia leads a virtual teen support group for fellow teenagers with Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis in order to provide guidance and hope for her peers.
Julia’s walk team, Julia’s Crushing Crohn’s, has raised over $6,000 for Long Island Take Steps to fund critical research for inflammatory bowel diseases.
Northwell Health is providing support for Long Island Take Steps and the local IBD community as Presenting Sponsor. “Inflammatory bowel disease not only impacts the patient but the entire family, so our team is committed to being available, affable, able, and accountable to them.
This is a personal mission to me, not only to relive chronic suffering, but to treat every patient like our family” says renowned colorectal surgeon Feza Remzi, who was recently appointed by Northwell as vice president of its Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Remzi’s practice will also treat pediatric patients with IBD in collaboration with the team at Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
Take Steps is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundations largest nationwide event dedicated to finding cures and raising awareness for digestive diseases. Our events offer an incredible day for family, friends, and the community to celebrate all the efforts that have been put forth in raising funds towards our mission. It is a day that combines high energy and fun with access to valuable information and education.
The Long Island Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation is grateful for the support of Northwell Health and invites all who would like to support the IBD community to attend this festival-like event.
For more information on how to get involved with Take Steps, please visit www.cctakesteps.org or contact Director, LI Chapter Stephanie Guariglia 516-313-6280 or SGuariglia@crohnscolitisfoundation.org
