Fundraiser takes aim at Lyme disease

Battling Lyme disease all of her life, Abby Rowland Webb knows her illness is difficult to diagnose. She also knows, first-hand, the mental and physical anguish Lyme disease can generate.

After numerous misdiagnoses, failed prescriptions and disabling symptoms, Webb spent the last months of summer at the Hansa clinic in Wichita, Kans., seeking alternative treatments including naturopathic changes to her diet and care.

Returning home to the Cape Region, Webb said she is determined to raise awareness of the disease in Delaware, which recently ranked first in the nation for prevalence of Lyme disease.

"It's not just deer ticks that can give you Lyme disease," Webb said. "Any ticks, even mosquitoes carry the disease."

The American Lyme Association verifies Lyme-carrying organisms have been identified in mosquitoes, horse flies and deer flies, but experiments attempting to transmit the organisms to noninfected species have so far been unsuccessful. Only two species of ticks in North America have successfully transmitted the spirochete that causes Lyme Disease to humans, the association reports.

But as Lyme disease continues to affect the population, Webb said she hopes to continue her advocacy for Lyme research and prevention.

On Sunday, Nov. 3, friends of Webb are hosting a benefit and fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m. at St. George's Chapel Fellowship Hall on Beaver Dam Road.

The family is seeking donations for a live auction to be held at the event, and food donated by Abbott's Grill and Dead President's Pub will be available. The event is a fundraiser to help pay the cost of Webb's treatment while also raising awareness of Lyme disease.

Artist Danny Quinn will perform Irish music at the event, and raffle tickets are still available for a 50" Vizio Smart LED HDTV. The winner will be drawn at the fundraiser after months of ticket sales.

Presale tickets are available; tickets will also be available at the door.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Amy West at 302-228-7533 or amywwebb@aol.com.