Bell brothers take on sports - and life's - challenges
With a sturdy 6-foot-4 frame, Kennedy senior Cody Bell towers over his older brother Chris, looking every bit the multi-sport athlete who has made his mark in both baseball and golf. But it’s Chris, he’ll tell you, who is the strong one.
“Chris has taught me a lot,” Cody says. “He’s really helped me with the mental aspect of my life, as well as the physical. I feel if he stays that strong, there’s no way I shouldn’t be happy with the way my life is going.”
Four years Cody’s senior, Chris was diagnosed at age three-and-a-half with a degenerative disease called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), which causes bone to form in muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues, gradually restricting movement.
It’s a disease so rare – affecting only 1 in 10 million people – that it was first misdiagnosed as cancer before University of Iowa physicians were able to identify the cause of the lump that had formed on Chris’ shoulder. Shortly after the devastating diagnosis, Cody was born.
The boys’ parents, Jim and Nancy Bell, began learning about FOP and threw themselves into efforts to raise funds for research into the disease. Creating an event called Angel Wings Golf and BBQ, they raised an astounding $180,000 through five tournaments.
“We had a lot of help from family and friends,” recalls Nancy. “We would fill 36 foursomes and have a waitlist.” After that, she says, “we retired the event to focus on raising the boys.”
Both boys loved sports from an early age, playing in summer leagues, on school teams and – as Chris’ disease made it more difficult and dangerous for him to compete – in the sanctuary of the Bells’ backyard. Because trauma spurs the disabling bone growth that defines FOP, his physical contact had to be limited.
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