RICHMOND, Va. — Women are significantly more likely to experience autoimmune diseases, with studies indicating they make up 80% of all patients.
Whitney Brooks is one of those women. After being diagnosed with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, the mother of a young son said she spent a lot of time in bed feeling sorry for herself and disappointed that this would be her new normal.
"I started telling myself, girl, get up. They said, your diagnosis is not changing, it's irreversible. You're going to have to learn how to live and move forward," Brooks said.
In 2023, Brooks created the Girl, Get Up Walk movement. Next month, a walk is happening to celebrate other women who are battling autoimmune disease, chronic illness, and pain.
"So much bigger than myself and even the women here locally and that's really the goal for them to get the recognition, the celebration that they absolutely deserve," Brooks said.
Brooks thought we were just doing an interview about her event, but we had a special surprise for her on her birthday.
"We are here not just for the interview but to kind of give you a surprise as well," Reba Hollingsworth told a surprised Brooks. "Because for you to start something like this and to give people that awareness piece out there to be more attuned to what's going on in the world and you've done so much in these three years to get all of this off the ground. So we just have a little gift for you and we're also gonna make a donation to your organization as well, but this gift is for you because it's also your birthday. So thank you for what you do in the community and helping so many women and so many families out there."
The Girl, Get Up Walk event is Saturday, April 11 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Peter Paul Development Center at 1708 North 22nd Street. The event is free, but attendees are encouraged to register here.
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