Max Larsen,12, is top arthritis fundraiser

When 12-year-old Max Larsen complained that his joints and bones were sore after his sixth-grade football game against Kewaunee Tuesday, he was not talking about normal aches and pains.

The Denmark sixth-grader has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and takes medicine daily as well as biweekly shots to address his symptoms.

He is one of 6,000 children in Wisconsin and 300,000 in the United States who suffer from some form of arthritis. Max was diagnosed when he was 8 years old after complaining of abnormal pain after sports events, said his father, Rob Larsen, the president and owner of Northern Concrete Inc.

Max hasn’t let the diagnosis stop him form playing football and basketball or from hunting and fishing.

“I want to find a cure for the disease,” he said.

For two years in a row, Max and his team of family and friends, To the Max!, have been the leading fundraiser in the nation for the Arthritis Foundation, raising more than $80,000 to help find a cure.

This year, Max’s goal is to raise $50,000. He and his team will be hosting a Cow Pie Bingo fundraiser this Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Circle Tap, 5813 County NN in Denmark. The event will include cow pie bingo, live music, a bounce house, milk bottle contest, steer auction and other raffle items. By purchasing a square in the cow pie for $10, $20 or $100, participants will be entered in a cash raffle and also help the Arthritis Foundation.

Max says there has been a silver lining to having juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

“Going to camp with other kids who have my disease, I really made some good friends,” he said. The camp, located in the Wisconsin Dells, was called MASH for Make Arthritis Stop Hurting.

Max says that he will continue to play sports in spite of the pain and will also participate in the Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run/Walk in Green Bay this December.

“It’s nice that a lot of my friends and team mates will be there, too,” Max said.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Max Larsen,12, is top arthritis fundraiser