Hey, we all know who Zip Gordon is, right? The cute little kid who draws the vehicle winner at ZipperQ? The boy who loves Minecraft and tormenting his big sister, Arlie? Or you might just know of him as the local boy with FOP, although there’s a million more pieces to him than that.
Well, we are nearing a day to celebrate Zip and the great strides that are being made in the world of FOP research. April 23 is International FOP Awareness Day.
The International FOP Association, a global organization dedicated to finding a treatment and cure for one of medicine’s rarest and most disabling conditions, will observe April 23 as a day to increase awareness of the genetic condition that causes the body’s skeletal muscle and soft connective tissues to morph into bone, progressively locking joints in place and rendering movement impossible. Of an estimated 3,000 FOP patients worldwide, there are approximately 800 that are known.
The gene that causes the disease was discovered on April 23, 2006, and the discovery has allowed research to focus on safe and effective treatments for the condition, found in only one in two million individuals. Clinical trials began in 2014.
Zip is an awesome kid. He’s not just one in a million, he’s one in two million. Let’s help raise awareness on April 23, International FOP Awareness Day, by changing our profile pictures to the FOP Awareness Day logo.
Go, Zip!
