Two well-known people affiliated with Kansas University basketball are lending their names to fight the No. 1 disabling disease in the country: arthritis.

“Both of my parents have it,” said Bonnie Henrickson, KU’s head women’s basketball coach.

“For me, it was a shock to find out that a 2-year-old girl could have arthritis,” said Chris Piper, a former KU player whose daughter Kate, now 6 years old, suffers from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Piper, a play-by-play announcer for the Jayhawks, and Henrickson spoke about the disease at a “first-step” luncheon Thursday at the Eldridge Hotel’s 10 restaurant in downtown Lawrence. The event served as a way to begin recruiting fundraising teams for the April 28 Annual Arthritis Walk in Lawrence.

Henrickson also said some uncles and aunts suffer from arthritis.

Piper, who played on KU’s 1988 championship team, said his daughter is treated with medication to take care of the swelling and pain.

However, she does play sports, such as soccer and basketball.

“The key is just to lead a normal life as much as you can,” he said.

Piper said his family has been involved with a similar event in Kansas City. He said he hoped that the Lawrence event would help build awareness.

“We want everybody to understand that it can affect anybody,” he said.

Jane Harris, walk chairwoman, said the one-mile and 5K walk will start April 28 from the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive.

“It’s also a dog walk,” Harris said. “People are encouraged to bring their dogs. Dogs get arthritis, too.”

Harris said all ages of people get arthritis.

“A lot of people think that arthritis is an old people’s disease. Not at all,” she said. “We’re not sure how people get it, whether it’s hereditary or not.”

Symptoms are mostly joint and muscle pain, she said. It sometimes develops a rash or a redness in that area, she said.

“People then experience a stiffness or the pain in it,” she said. “From there it spreads. If you get it in one of your hands, it will go to the other hand. Or maybe your knees or feet.”

It’s treated with medication and with joint replacements, she said.

She said 66 million people in the country have arthritis, including 300,000 children. For more information on the event, contact Harris at 841-5707 or at GIJane50@aol.com.