By Lindsay Peyton

The reason White Center resident Karen Horne participates year after year in the Alliance for Lupus Research’s 5K Run/Walk is simple.

“If there’s a cure, bring it on,” she said. “I walk for a cure – and to bring awareness for the disease.”

Horne will also serve as inspiration for others who walk by her side.

Most sign up to participate in the event because they know someone who has been touched by the debilitating disease. Horne, on the other hand, has experienced Lupus firsthand – and has a number of epic stories to share from the battlefront.

The event will be held on Saturday, July 9 at Magnuson Park, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, in Seattle, 98115.

Participants may run or walk – and each will receive a pair of commemorative purple shoelaces after the event.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., followed by the run at 9:30 a.m. The Kids Dash starts at 10:45 a.m. The run will be followed by a Seahawks Meet and Greet, food, music and kid’s activities.  
 
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, kidneys, skin, lungs and brain. 

Horne started noticing pain in her back in April 2007 – but she couldn’t place a reason why she should be sore. Even though, she worked full-time as a delivery driver for FedEx, she left most of the heavy lifting to others. She had always been energetic and healthy.

But the pain wouldn’t go away. Instead it only worsened – and Horne became more and more fatigued.

“I just felt physically drained,” she said. “My body was tired, and I couldn’t eat anything.”

Shortly after the holidays, Horne’s condition was so bad that she could not leave the house. Finally, a friend took her to the emergency room.

“The doctor came in and said, ‘You have kidney failure,’” Horne recalled. “They later told me it was the worst case of lupus they had ever seen. They had never seen lupus attack a person like this before.”

After two weeks in the hospital, Horne started dialysis, which she would continue to administer for herself at home for the next five and a half years.

“I was still working,” she said. “I would do it at midnight, be on the machine until 5 or 6 a.m. and then I’d get up and go to work.”

In 2014, she started getting calls from potential organ donors – and eventually, found a perfect match.

“I’ve been in remission ever since,” she said.

Horne believes that she was saved through the power of prayer and her can-do attitude.

“A body in motion stays in motion; I’m a firm believer in that,” she said.

Horne is thankful for every day that she wakes up. “This was a life-changing experience,” she said. “I’m happy to be alive. I could have died. My blood was toxic.”

She advises others to be proactive with their health. “I took charge,” she said. “I’m the type of person who gets to the bottom of things.”
 
Erica Mangham, Western regional development director for the Alliance for Lupus Research, said lupus is a common disease.

“There’s so little funding right now for Lupus, but 1.5 million Americans have this disease,” she said.

Mangham said many more people have the disease but haven’t reported it.

The mission of the Alliance for Lupus Research is to find better treatments and ultimately prevent and cure lupus by supporting medical research.

The organization has committed more than $106 million to innovative research so far.

Mangham encourages interested individuals to join in the upcoming 5K – or to host their own fundraising events at work or school.
 
“We need to get people to start talking about this,” she said. “Stand up and make some noise. We need to eradicate this disease.”

To sign up for the Alliance for Lupus Research’s 5K Run/Walk, or to make a donation to the organization, visit www.lupuswalkseattle.org or call 866-925-5257 x6107.