Suffolk County NY to dedicate day to girl with rare blood disease

Suffolk County legislators have adopted a resolution presented by Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) that declares January 26th to be “Langerhans Histiocytosis Day” in honor of 12 year old Taylor Ryan, who lives in Cilmi’s district that is affected by Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH).

LCH is a rare disease where abnormalities in the production of white blood cells manifest in the form of bone lesions to systemic diseases that can lead to organ failures or tumors.

“Suffolk County has led the way with many important, impactful pieces of legislation — legislation that has no doubt saved lives,” Cilmi told Long Island Newsday.  “Today we lead the way again in bringing attention to this rare disease, which impacts 1 in 200,000 children. Hopefully that leadership will lead to more public awareness, more accurate diagnoses and more funding for research so that we can save lives.”

Further Reading: LCH in Children (from the Histiocytosis Association); Taylor Ryan (more from Long Island Newsday)

Photo Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas

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