POCATELLO — Lydia Deatherage will celebrate her 16th birthday on Monday, and she wanted to do something big to commemorate the milestone. Rather than a shopping spree or a big bash with all of her friends, Deatherage opted to do something to help other children.

    Deatherage, a petite blonde with bright blue eyes and a soft-spoken manner, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was just 7 years old. She organized Lydia’s Friends,  a fun run/walk at Cotant Park in Chubbuck to raise money to help brighten the holiday season for children stuck in the hospital at Christmas time.

    The fundraiser, which is in lieu of a birthday party, is set for Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.  Money raised during the event will be used to buy and decorate miniature Christmas trees that will be donated to children at Portneuf Medical Center and Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah.   

    Deatherage’s parents are Colan and Leslie Deatherage. Colan is the pastor at Gate City Baptist Church and Lydia is the oldest of six children.  

    Leslie said she is very proud of her daughter.

    “We offered to do something big to celebrate her birthday and this is what she wanted,” Leslie said. “It was a very selfless thing for her to do.”

    Lydia said a woman at her church also donated hand-crafted Christmas stockings that will be filled and distributed along with the trees.

    This past December, Lydia became ill during a family shopping trip to Boise when her temperature soared to 104 degrees and she was hallucinating.

    “I was just acting really weird and my dad took me to the hospital,” Lydia said.

    Lydia ended up being admitted to St. Luke’s Children Hospital. When her condition did not improve, she was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City where she remained for another week.

    Rheumatoid arthritis causes auto immune deficiency and Lydia had a form of blood poisoning that caused her to become septic. The episode left her with interstitial lung disease.

     “She almost died,” Leslie said. “It was very serious.”

    Lydia made it home for Christmas, but felt bad for the children who spent their holiday in the hospital.

    “It was really sad,” Lydia said. “It didn’t feel like Christmas, because I missed out on baking cookies and caroling and all the things we usually do.”

    Due to her compromised immune system, Lydia has to avoid exposure to infection. She takes several medications daily as a well as shots every night. She also travels to Utah every other week for intravenous treatments.

    “If I don’t take my medication, I get a red rash all over and my joints hurt really badly,” Lydia said. “It’s all of my joints, not just one or two.”

    But Lydia does not allow her disease to debilitate her. She runs five miles a week in spite of the fact that her illness last year reduced her lung capacity to just 45 percent.

    “That’s how the idea for the fundraiser came about,” Lydia said. “I love to run.”

    And while she’s running, Lydia said she thinks about when she was sick and when she couldn’t even walk.

    Baking is one of her favorite pastimes and she’s managed to turn her hobby onto a small business. For the past three years, Lydia has sold baked goods at the local Farmers Market. Her inventory includes lemon bars, cakes and cookies, but said that cinnamon rolls are her most popular item.  

    “The money goes into my bank,” Lydia said. “I don’t know what I’ll do with it, maybe college, or use it to get a house someday.”

    Lydia, who is home-schooled, plans to attend Pensacola Christian College in Florida — her parent’s alma mater. She wants to study culinary arts or journalism.

    “I really like to write too,” she said.

    Leslie said the family will take their annual Christmas shopping trip to Boise again this holiday season and they plan to volunteer their time making cookies for Ronald McDonald house where they stayed last year when Lydia was hospitalized.

    Lydia plans to serve birthday cake and hotdogs during Friday’s fundraiser and she said 30 people have already signed up. She’s also received some cash donations for her cause.

    “We just want people to come out and do a couple of laps and have some fun,” Lydia said.

    To pick up a pledge sheet or make donations to the fun run/walk call Lydia at 270-9070, or go to Lydia’s Friends on Facebook.