Son honors father in fundraising RSD walk
By FRAIDY REISS
Staff Writer
Asbury Park Press

OCEAN TOWNSHIP—For the last five and a half years, Leslie Shapiro has not been able to shake a friend's hand or wear his own wedding ring.

Shapiro, 54, said he suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a chronic pain condition that leaves him doubled over if even the wind touches his skin.

"This has been a very, very, very long five and a half years," the Freehold Township resident said.

As it has been for his family too, his son, Bruce Shapiro of Ocean Township, said. The other Shapiros can only help Leslie sit down, bring him a drink or call an ambulance when his symptoms worsen, he said.

But now Bruce has found something else he can do for his father. The 26-year-old plans to participate June 22 in the sixth annual New York City Achilles Hope & Possibility 5M Walk/Run/Roll, to be held in Central Park.

Bruce said he hopes the walk will help him raise $5,000 to help researchers find a cure for RSD, and he hopes the walk will raise awareness about a condition that forces him and his family to explain, over and over again, why some days Leslie barely can walk down the street.

"I never even heard of this before he was diagnosed with it,"

Bruce Shapiro said. "People never heard of this disease."

Between 200,000 and 1.2 million Americans suffer from RSD, according to the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association. And that is why Leslie said he is proud of his son for walking to raise awareness about the disease.

"I'm not the last person to have RSD," Leslie Shapiro said. "I don't want the next person to be in the doctor's office or the emergency room trying to explain, "My hand is burning and, no, I did not put it over a flame.' This thing is real."

HOW TO HELP:

To donate money to help find a cure for RSD, call Bruce Shapiro at (732) 239-4645 or visit www.firstgiving.com/bruceshapiro.

Source

June 12, 2008