11 year old Ned writes “Wimpy Kid” style book to support young people with arthritis

PEG-LEG is the name of a book written by 11 year old Ned Lowell of Cornwall. It was the nickname given to him by his school friends when he was struck down by a mystery illness and was left reliant on crutches.

Inspired by Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid books, Ned set about writing about his own experiences of what turned out to be arthritis. He writes in a funny and engaging way about his symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. It's a story of hope, a story of not giving up, a story of doing the incredible even though you have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Around 1 in 1000 children and young people are diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Awareness of the condition remains low leaving children and young people with arthritis feeling stigmatised and alone and, until recently, there was a lack of support and information for families.

Ned has teamed up with Juvenile Arthritis Research, a charity whose vision is a world where no child has to suffer from arthritis, to publish his book and it will be included in their new support packs for teenagers with JIA.

Juvenile Arthritis Research aim to ensure every child and young person with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) has the information and support they need. Their existing “Little Box Of Hope” support packs for younger children have proved to be crucial at a time when families need support. Recognising the gap in support for the 10-16 year old age group, Juvenile Arthritis Research have developed an amazing new support pack for teenagers which will also include a copy of PEG-LEG. Each Teen Support pack will also be full of information about what JIA is, how it is treated, and what to expect in the future. The packs will help young people with JIA know they are not alone, and that someone cares.

This week the charity launched a campaign to raise the £1,000 needed for the initial pilot of the Teen Support pack, and within 24 hours raised half of their target. They would love to smash their target and raise enough to ensure every young person with JIA can receive the support they need.

Being a teenager is hard enough without having a chronic health condition. Juvenile Arthritis Research already have a waiting list of young people in need of support, and hear from new families every day. If you can help them make the Teen Support Pack a reality, visit www.give.net/teen. If you represent a business and would like to get involved as a sponsor of the support packs, please message Juvenile Arthritis Research via www.jarproject.org/contact-us