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Hike for Hyde is April 17
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Forsyth County News

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Hike for Hyde is set for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 17, rain or shine at Sawnee Mountain Preserve. Registration before April 15 is $25 per adult and $12 per child 12 and younger; $30 per adult and $15 per child April 17. Online: www.hike4hyde.com.

A hiking fundraiser April 17 at Sawnee Mountain Preserve supports research and care for a fatal hereditary autoimmune disease that afflicts a local boy.

Hike for Hyde started last year in honor of Hyde Talbot, a 3-year-old with AHUS, which affects about only 300 to 600 people in the U.S., often young children.

The event will feature several children's activities, including face-painting, a bounce house and nature-themed games and crafts. Participants will receive a T-shirt and raffle ticket.

Hikes will go on throughout the day, with those who reach the top of the mountain receiving a stamp on their shirts, said Phyllis Talbot, Hyde's mother.

"It's a lot of fun for the kids," she said.

The hike, in its second year, will be in honor of three young boys with AHUS from Georgia.

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome requires lifelong treatment, and often affects the kidneys.

The only permanent treatment is a simultaneous kidney-liver transplant, a risky procedure with a high mortality rate.

For now, Hyde Talbot spends about 10 hours per day on dialysis. But he will be hiking right along with everybody else on April 17.

Eighty percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Foundation for Children with Atypical HUS, an organization that funds research for the incurable disease.

The other 20 percent will be donated to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a place where Phyllis Talbot said "all three boys have spent more than their fair share of time."

Last year's event raised $20,000 for the same two organizations.

"There's so few people with this," she said. "It's not anything that gets tons of research or tons of funding."