ZELIENOPLE, Pa. — A local community came together at a special event to support a boy with a rare illness.
People in Zelienople braved the cold to hold an open-air market on Main Street to raise money for 11-year old Jax Ramirez.
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He was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called IPEX syndrome and needs $2 million to continue in a clinical trial to save his life.
“As a mom who has to say the words life-threatening and their son, you never want that to happen and then you have an entire town rooting for you,” Jax’s mother Missy Ramirez, said.
More than 30 businesses were a part of Tuesday’s fundraiser and was organized by the Zelienople Rotary Club.
Ramirez said the event was beyond anything she could have imagined.
“It almost feels surreal,” Ramirez said. “I look around and I just see my son’s name on everybody’s shirt and it brings tears to my eyes.”
One business said they named a burger after Jax.
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