LYNN — Andrew Belliveau, 22, is ready to smash gastroparesis out of the park for the second year in a row.
The Lynn native is hosting his 2nd Annual “GP Pie-A-Thon” on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Gowdy Memorial Park in Lynn. Inspired by the “Ice-Bucket Challenge,” which raised millions of dollars to combat Lou Gehrig’s disease, Belliveau said he wanted to raise awareness about gastroparesis, an illness that creates paralysis of the stomach, while having fun.
“I was diagnosed with it when I was 10 years old,” said Belliveau. Going through it at such a young age, I never fully understood what was going on so I was just going through the motions and forcing myself to go to school for an hour or two at most, so I wouldn’t get behind. Being away from my friends was very difficult and I remember baseball being my oasis because the mental aspect of the game distracted me from my symptoms, even though I couldn’t play all that much. Being on the field was something I looked forward to every week.”
The reason behind the pie? Belliveau said with the illness, he is unable to digest certain things so when the holidays come around he can’t indulge in his favorite desserts, such as pies.
“After you smash it in your face the first instinct is to lick it off, but for us gastro-patients, you can’t,” he said.
You can give up, suffer and continue to play the victim or you can live on your own terms, Belliveau said. He created the Pie-Face Challenge in 2016 and got famed Red Sox pitcher David Price to get involved, with a video of him “pie-ing” himself in the face with a plate of whipped cream. Soon after, MLB stars Brock Holt, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Chris Young, Rick Porcello, David Ross and Didi Gregorius joined in on the challenge.
The feeling of having some of his favorite baseball players take time out of their days to help create awareness for an illness he has battled for 12 years is indescribable, Belliveau said. Not only did he consider that an accomplishment, so was being able to create a community for people struggling with gastroparesis.
“I inadvertently created this community and connected individuals that thought they were struggling alone because no one ever heard of gastroparesis before,” he said. “I honestly never thought it would come to this point, being able to host an event or have a Red Sox player take part in it. I could barely get my friends and family to do it in the beginning.”
The goal is to capture some of the same playfulness that launched the Ice Bucket Challenge to viral success in 2014. People dumped ice water over their heads, and along the way created a tsunami of funding for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. The condition is more-commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the New York Yankees star first baseman who contracted the illness.
Belliveau, who graduated Elms College in Chicopee this year with a bachelor’s degree in special education, said his biggest hope with the annual event and challenge is to educate people on gastroparesis and give it a “household name.” He wants everyone to understand the behind-the-scenes symptoms those with the illness are forced to face every day.
“Even if I make an impact on one person, that makes me feel good,” he said.
