Natalie Aurelio was born on June 24,1990 to Dave and Liz Aurelio;her brother Nick was 2 years old at the time.Until age 3 she seemed like a healthy girl;playing with Nick on the beach and in her front yard.She had difficulty with putting legos together and speaking in full sentences.Temper tantrums were frequent and ritilan was prescribed but it didnt help.The first real sign of trouble came when Natalie had a seizure in December 1993,an MRI followed but was negative.Soon Natalie would have more seizures and even tually lose her speech,sight,ability to do everyday functions and ability to walk.Breathing became harder too.Another MRI showed that part of the brain was like jello thus this part of the brain no longer functioning.No one knew waht could be done, so her parents were told to keep her comfortable for however long she lived.Soon there was a name of the disease that was robbing Natalie of brain function: Batten Disease,in this disease brain cells eventually stop functioning and don't regenerate as they would in a person without Batten.It occurs when both parent carry a copy of a certain gene;as persons with Batten age,they are able to less and eventually the disease kills them.There are 3 forms of the disease infantile,late infantile and adult.Natalie had the late infantile form and was likely to pass away between 7 and 12 years of age.However her parents hoped that Natalie could survive this disease and would turn to neurologist Dr. William Mobely for help.He agreed to do research in order to lessen and or reversr Batten if he could get the money to do so.Liz,Dave and Nick would start with a garage sale;this would eventually lead to golf tournaments and other fund raisers which in the end led them to thier 200,000 dollor goal.This became known as the Natalie fund;Soon expiriemnts began in mice which appread to work and eventually would begin in humans.No one knew if Natalie would benifit but all were were willing to give it a try.If it didnt help Natalie,hopefully it would help others.Natalie had been waiting her turn for the clinical trials when she became ill with pneumonia and passed away on August 28, 2004.Her parents and Nick were with her,she was 14 years old; she had far outlived medical expectations thanks to her family,nurses and other care givers who kept her healthy in case there ever was a cure for this disease.although Natalie had limited brain function,she smiled and laughed quite often which was endearing to those who knew her.She was a courageous young woman who fought a battle to live and inspired many who knew her and many that did not.Natalie I luved reading your story and was saddened to hear that you passed away,I don't doubt that you are loved and missed.