Chatham High Graduates Return to Walk for Neil

Michael and Meg Hajjar live in Basking Ridge, but their roots are in Chatham. They graduated from Chatham High School in 2000, married in 2009 and had their twin sons, Neil and Luke, in August 2010.

So when Neil was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, it was only natural for them to come back to Chatham in an effort to help their son.

Neil's disorder is called MECP2 Duplication Syndrome. According to Mike Hajjar, symptoms include seizures, gastrointestinal complications, developmental delays and intellectual disabilities.

"We do have one hope; a team of doctors believe that they can delete the duplicated gene, making the lives of these children easier, better and longer," Hajjar said. Now all the family has to do is raise money to go towards a clinical trial.

Hajjar, who works for the , and his wife Meg organized a walk at Saturday at 9 a.m.

Township employees received a copy of a flier about the run, and many have already agreed to walk Saturday. The waived the fee for using Cougar Field for the walk, and the Library of the Chathams posted a flier about the run to recruit local runners.