Mom To Run Race In Honor Of Ill Daughter

A 3-year-old Lenexa girl is battling one of the rarest blood diseases in the world -- Diamond Blackfan Anemia.

When Amelia Lamb was 2 months old, a routine doctor's visit proved she was very ill.

"It was just a whirlwind. We had no idea what was wrong. The doctors didn't know what was wrong, they just knew something wasn't right. Her heartbeat was off," said Vickie Lamb, the girl's mother.

Several months later, Amelia was diagnosed with Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a potentially fatal blood disease that only 700 people in the country have.

"Because it's so rare, the disease doesn't get any government funding for research like cancer or juvenile diabetes, so it's up to families to do the fundraising," Vickie Lamb told KMBC's Lara Moritz.

To that end, Vickie Lamb will run Kansas City's Hospital Hill half-marathon on June 7 in honor of her daughter and the other children who suffer form DBA.

Lamb said she hopes to raise awareness and money for a disease that forces her daughter to undergo blood transfusions every two weeks.

"She's brave. Every time we go to the hospital, she rarely cries, and when she does she always tells me, 'But I was brave mommy. I was brave,'" Lamb said. "She's my inspiration, along with all the other kids that are suffering from this disease, because they're the true heroes."

Lamb said Amelia, who is just shy of 4 years old, already understands her symptoms.

"She's even able to recognize, 'Mommy, I think my counts must be low. I don't have any energy,'" Lamb said.

There is no known cure for DBA.

For more information about Diamond Blackfan Anemia, visit dbafoundation.org.

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