12-year-olds lead the way in their health battles

A pair of 12-year-old Irvington Middle Schoolers have raised thousands of dollars to help find a cure for the autoimmune diseases they know too well. On Sunday, June 14, children and adults raced two laps around the Richmond Hill townhouse community for the 6th Annual Crohn's & Colitis Fundraiser, led by Toby Lowenbraun, who has Crohn’s disease, and Natalie George, who has ulcerative colitis, both of which impact the digestive system.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Lowenbraun was hospitalized for four days and diagnosed with Crohn’s, which causes chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract when a person’s immune system mistakenly attacks harmless bacteria. Symptoms include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and delayed growth in children. Lowenbraun has been in remission for almost six years, a result of a medication called Remicade, which is administered via intravenous infusion.

“He hasn’t experienced symptoms, but I do think it’s a heavy load for a 12-year-old to carry that every six weeks he needs to go to a hospital and sit there with other patients,” Toby’s mother, Lisa Lowenbraun, told the Dispatch. “And sometimes he has to leave school early for it. So it’s a constant reminder and it’s not something most kids have to deal with.”