By Brenda Erdahl
At two years old Hoyt Lambert can’t do many of the things other kids his age can.
Skills such as crawling and standing come much harder for the Maple Lake boy because of a rare disease called KAND (KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder). The disorder is so rare fewer than 300 people in the entire world have been diagnosed. Degenerative and progressive, it can rob people, including children, of their ability to walk, talk, feed themselves and see. It’s for those reasons Hoyt’s family is so desperately searching for a cure.
On Saturday, August 7, the Lambert family will hold a fundraiser at the Community Park on Division Street in Maple Lake in honor of Hoyt to raise money for KIF1A.org, the non-profit relentlessly fighting to find a cure before it’s too late.
“I really think a cure is possible in the next couple years,” Hoyt’s mother Bryn said. “There is so much happening in genetics right now. I see stories of other weird diseases like KIF1A and they are already doing clinical trials. I really think we can find a treatment if not a cure in my son’s lifetime. I really believe there is hope for us.”
To read more about Hoyt and how you can support him and his family, see this week’s front page of the paper!