Lucas Paxson of Gilbertsville is very much a normal 6-year-old. His mother, Annette, describes him as a ‘sports fanatic’. He plays soccer and tee-ball, does karate, bikes, rollerblades and skateboards. He enjoys ice hockey, football and lacrosse as well. He plays the drums and leads a healthy lifestyle, but twice a day must use a chest PT machine, an exercise his mother describes as being ‘like brushing his teeth’ for him.
When Lucas was born, he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Swift Technique, a Philly funk ensemble who describe their music as ‘in the tradition of James Brown with balls of Led Zeppelin’, will play a benefit show for Lucas’s Army and Cystic Fibrosis Research.
CF is a life-threatening autosomal recessive genetic disorder which mainly affects the lungs and digestive system. 30,000 Americans have been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and 10 million Americans are asymptomatic carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene. Each time two carriers of the defective gene conceive, there is a 25 percent chance that their child will have CF, according to the American Lung Association. Sixty years ago, a person with CF rarely lived to attend elementary school. Today, due to grassroots organizing and an increase in research funding, the average life expectancy for an individual with cystic fibrosis is 37. Researchers and those affected by the disease have high hopes that a cure will be discovered soon.
The event will be held at the Historic Boyertown State Theatre for on Saturday, July 19 at 7 p.m. The event will be kid-friendly, with face-painting, and begin with a silent auction from 5-6:30 p.m.
Swift Technique will perform at 7 p.m. While the group draws from many world influences, their genre has been described as ‘uniquely Philadelphia’.
Tickets for the show are available online at statetheatreboyertown.com/purchase_tickets_online or can be purchased on the day of the show. For more information about the band please visit www.swifttechnique.com. For more information about the CF Foundation, check out www.cff.org.
The Boyertown State Theatre is located at 61 N. Reading Ave. in Boyertown.
All money donated will go to the Delaware Valley CF foundation to further research and find a cure.
