TOLEDO, Ohio — Imagine you're young, active and seemingly healthy, then you suddenly lose your strength and can't even walk.
That's exactly what happened to one local man. Now he's on a Mission to raise awareness about this rare disease.
You can't tell Sidney Mayfield is any different just by looking at him, but when he turned 30 he got news that would change his life.
"The drug was atorvastatin and it was recommended to me because I'm diabetic with high blood pressure," Mayfield said. "And because I had those two in combination they wanted to cover the whole bases and give me a high cholesterol medicine just as a moderator. 45 days on the pill and my muscles start to deteriorate."
Sidney has Necrotizing Autoimmune Myopathy, a rare disease that causes skeletal muscle weakness.
"Statistics studies which date back to 2014 say they're only 300 cases reported to date, so I call myself Mr. 301," he said.
He says because of his health condition doctors recommended a specific drug called Atorvastatin. Among the potential side effects listed are muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness.
"They were just saying 'We want to help you out, we want to add more years to your life so if you add this regimen to your lifestyle, it will help you in the long run,'" Mayfield said. "Meanwhile it had the adverse effect."
Over the span of eight months Mayfield lost the strength in his muscles. But he is able to get through life's obstacles with the help of his younger brother
"So as time kind of progressed they came to me and asked 'Would you like to be your brother's caregiver?'" I was like 'Oh yeah,' and I was like 'I wouldn't do it another way,'" Kenan Mayfield said. "I like being with him because he's been there for me a lot."
And for these two brothers it's true how the saying goes - A brother will always stand by you.
"He's doing it all and he's doing it by himself, so it's like double the work for him," Sidney said. "I'm like, 'You don't have to do this I could've hired anybody to come out here and take care of me.' Because you're my brother you step up to the plate. That just means the whole world to me."
Now the Mayfield brothers have a mission to raise awareness of this rare disease.
There is a luncheon happening this Saturday. If you would like to show your support and raise more awareness you can click here to register.