Hi my name is Chris Burrell. I am 23 years old and I was diagnosed with NF.

What is NF? NF stands for Neurofibromatosis which causes tumors to grow anywhere on or in the body. There are no treatments and no cure for NF. It is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders and it strikes people of all races, ethnic origins worldwide and both sexes equally. There are three types: NF1, NF2 and schwannomatosis and I was diagnosed with Type 1 when I was a child. This affects me daily but was especially difficult when I was child as I had to miss school, had difficulties learning, and was constantly teased. I want to help find a cure so others do not have to endure this.

Please help me raise awareness and funds to find a cure. For every dollar donated we are one step closer to solving the NF puzzle. All money donated goes directly to The Children’s Tumor Foundation to be used for research to find treatments and hopefully a cure for NF.

To make offline donations: All check donations should be made payable to CTF. When mailing your check, please write 'R4R 2012' and Chris Burrell: NF Hero in the memo section. Please mail check to: Children's Tumor Foundation, Racing4Research Program, 95 Pine Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10005.