NATCHEZ — Patricia Flowers lost her 25-year-old son, Bryant Fortenberry, in January to a disease that affects approximately 30,000 Americans.

The genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, took her son’s life, and now Flowers herself has been diagnosed with the CF.

Flowers and a group of approximately 30 others gathered at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Natchez Saturday morning for the Great Strides Walk benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The walk was held in honor of Fortenberry.

Flowers said her son was 17 when he was diagnosed with the disease, and she was diagnosed this year.

“Most people with it are diagnosed as infants,” she said, “Sometimes it doesn’t manifest itself until you are older.”

The disease affects a person’s whole body Flowers said.

“CF is not a cut and dry disease,” she said. “It affects everyone differently.”

Flowers said the Great Strides Walk was a good platform to raise money and awareness for cystic fibrosis.

“Awareness is so important for support for cystic fibrosis research,” she said. “The more dollars that are funded for research, the faster they can find a cure.”

Craig Forman has been surrounded by the disease nearly his entire life, and said the research has done a lot of good for the life expectancy of CF sufferers.

“My son has it and so did my two brothers,” he said. “The life expectancy for someone with CF when my older brother had it was around 17-19 and now it is around 37.”

The Great Strides Walk helps work toward a cure for CF.

“There would be very little money for research if there weren’t things like this don’t happen,” Forman said. “People do events like these all over the state and country, and if you combine all the money raised, it really adds up.”

Walt Wilson, respiratory care instructor for Co-Lin, was in charge of the walk, and said they raised $2,149.35 for the CF Foundation.

“We more than doubled what we made last year,” he said. “We knew we were going to raise more money than last year.”

Wilson said this is the second year the school has hosted the walk for CF.

“The CF Foundation contacted me last year and asked if we could do a walk,” he said.

Wilson said the nationwide walks are making an impact on the disease.

“In 30 years they have doubled the life span of people with the disease,” he said. “Research is making a difference.”

Paula Case said her 15-month-old child was diagnosed with CF when she was 2 weeks old.

“I had never heard of it until my daughter was diagnosed,” she said. “It is a time-consuming and tough disease.”

Case said she was thankful for the walk, and for everyone who participated.

“CF needs more support for awareness and research,” she said. “It is helping people live longer lives.”