De-Clutter and Have a Dairy Queen Cone to Help Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on Sat.

looked like any other 7-year-old boy running around with his cousins and friends at a local restaurant, laughing and being silly as they took turns running inside and then back outside, darting between the grown-ups.

But Aidan, a second grader at in Point Pleasant Borough, is not like any other 7-year-old boy. He is fighting for his life every single day.

Aidan has Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a deadly disease that is debilitating to the respiratory and digestive systems.

Ever since he was diagnosed with the disease at eight days old, Aidan has had to endure a relentless battery of examinations, tests, surgeries and medications to stay alive. He had his 12th sinus surgery last Friday and is now back at school, said Dan Neville, his father.

Hoping for the day when their son and other children and adults don't have to keep going through this, Dan and Megan Neville have been holding fundraisers for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is conducting research to find a cure.

"We are doing everything we can as a family to help raise money because a cure is coming," Dan Neville said. "We just need the funds to help scientists develop it."

Aidan's familiy and friends, as the Team Aidan All Stars, are participating in the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk on May 20, which starts at the band shell at Arnold and Baltimore avenues in Point Pleasant Beach. The walk raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

To raise money towards the team effort, the familiy is urging the community to buy items at a garage sale at 1674 West End Dr., off Beaver Dam Road, Point Pleasant Borough, starting 8 a.m. Saturday and ending around 3 p.m.

Aidan's cousins are donating their toys and other items to the garage sale to help raise more money, Dan Neville said. If anyone wants to donate used toys, in good condition, in advance, email Dan Neville at danieljneville@hotmail.com.

And starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, all proceeds from cones with soft serve ice cream purchased at will be donated to the Team Aidan All Stars. For more information, see Dairy Queen's new Facebook page.

That restaurant where Aidan and his cousins were running around was where the Nevilles held a "Beach Bash" fundraiser for the Team Aidan effort for the foundation on April 14. They raised about $1,500.

For more information on Great Strides, see Aidan's page in the Great Strides web site.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited, chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. (70,000 worldwide), according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website.

"CF is what's called an orphan disease which is a disease that has not been 'adopted' by the pharmaceutical industry because it provides little financial incentive for the private sector to make and market new medications to treat or prevent it," Neville explained. "So the money we raise is necessary for the research."

According to the CF Foundation website, those with CF have "a defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that:

• clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and
• obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food."

More information on Aidan's condition can be found in his Journal section of the Caring Bridge website.

Another nearby family participating in the Walk on May 20 is the Harms family of Brick. Heather and Justin Harm, their sons, Ethan, 9, Liam, 7, and Nolan, 4, will be walking as "Harm's Heroes," wearing their superhero team T-shirts. Liam and Nolan have CF.