The Face of Juvenile Dermatomyositis: Akeelah Anderson

Lionsgate Films' "Akeelah and the Bee" inspires a young sufferer of Juvenile Dermatomyositis and draws attention to her relatively unknown disease.

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) April 15, 2006 -- Akeelah Anderson suffers from Juvenile Der-ma-to-my-o-si-tis (JD), a disease that is relatively unknown to the public and is seldom ever mentioned. Akeelah's disease would probably have gone unnoticed for several more years by the media and the public, if it had not been for the highly-anticipated release of Lionsgate Films' "Akeelah and the Bee".

Lionsgate Films recently discovered that there was a young girl in Minnesota battling Juvenile Dermatomyositis, bearing the same name as the protagonist of their upcoming film "Akeelah and the Bee". Executives received a touching letter detailing the inspiration that six -year old Akeelah draws from the-fictionalized "Akeelah's" triumph over adversity in the film.

Chamise Anderson, Akeelah's mother--author of the heart-felt letter remarked:

"What a blessing and an inspiration it would be for my Akeelah Anderson... to meet the fictional "Akeelah Anderson" and the rest of the cast...It would make Hollywood history as a true example of life imitating art."

As a result of these remarks, Chamise and Akeelah will attend the film premiere in Beverly Hills, CA on April 20th, along with the all-star cast which includes Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne and newcomer Keke Palmer.

Akeelah's presence at the film premiere will play a pivotal role in public awareness of Juvenile Dermatomyositis by giving the disease a face.

(Akeelah at the premiere on April 20th: http://301url.com/AkeelahAnderson )

###