This is probably the most “chocolate bar” story about two friends you’ll read about today. (You’ll learn exactly what that means in a minute.)
In 2013, Jonah Pournazarian was diagnosed with glycogen storage disease (GSD 1b), an extremely rare and currently incurable condition that causes his blood sugar to drop to dangerously low levels. The only known treatment for this illness is a mixture of cornstarch and water, which must be consumed every few hours to keep his metabolism stable. As ABC News reports, little Jonah has to be fed this mixture through a stomach tube every few hours.
But luckily for this 8-year-old — and for every other person who has GSD 1b — there’s a secret weapon fighting against the disease: Dylan Siegel, Jonah’s best friend.
At the ripe old age of 6, Dylan wrote and illustrated a book entitled “Chocolate Bar.” You see, for Dylan (now 7 years old), chocolate bar is a synonym for awesome — as in, “A trip to Disney World is so chocolate bar.” This chocolate bar book has raised an incredible $750,000 with every single cent going to Dr. David Weinstein’s lab at the University of Florida College of Medicine, which is working on a cure for GSD 1b.
MORE: Meet the Incredible 13-Year-Old Who Delivered a Million Books to Kids in Need
“He’s raised more money than all charities, the government, all donations up to this point,” Dr. Weinstein told ABC News. The doctor also told ABC affiliate KGO-TV that because of the generous donation, a cure is “now reality.”
We think that Dylan’s fundraising ability is just, well, chocolate bar.
This Amazing Boy Wrote a Book to Help Cure His Friend’s Rare Disease
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