TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Endeavour Elementary School third-grader Aidan Langley is one of 10 arthritis sufferers across the state selected to serve as ambassadors for the Arthritis Foundation at its 10th annual Amgen California Coast Classic Bike Tour.

The 525-mile mega-ride down the coast of California gets rolling later this month to help raise funds to support those like Aidan who suffer from arthritis.

"When my mom told me about it, I said I'd be honored to do it," he said, sounding more like a professional diplomat than an 8-year-old.

Aidan was diagnosed with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 4, after three years of doctor visits without a definitive diagnosis. Polyarticular means he is affected in five or more joints.

His parents, Josh and Aryn Langley, said they first realized something was wrong when Aidan was a toddler and started pulling his hands away when they helped him wash his hands.

It wasn't the temperature of the water. It was the light pressure on his hands that was hurting him. His feet hurt a lot, too.

When his knees swelled to the size of softballs one day in 2007, an emergency room doctor diagnosed the problem as juvenile arthritis.

By the second grade, Aidan was taking a steroid-based prescription that caused a lot of weight gain and facial puffiness, recalled Aryn Langley. When some of the other kids started teasing him at school, the physical pain was made worse by emotional stress.

"That's when I reached out to the Arthritis Foundation," said Mrs. Langley.

Not only did the family get an education on arthritis, the Foundation provided written materials Aidan's parents could give to his teachers and others to help them understand what he was going through.

Now that he's on another course of treatment, Aidan's weight is back to normal and his smile is back too, bright and genuine.

As a representative of sorts for the Foundation, Aidan can help bring a human face to the illness and encourage people to learn more about arthritis and the challenges sufferers face, said Manuel Loya, chief executive of the Arthritis Foundation's Pacific Region.

"It's important for the public to know that children get arthritis, too," Loya said in an e-mail. "Almost 300,000 children -- 41,500 in California -- and their families are touched by arthritis."

Having Aidan and the other youth honorees along the bike route reminds the riders why their participation is so important, Loya added. They are riding to raise funds for research and services that have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of young people like Aidan as well as the 46 million adults with arthritis.

One benefit Aidan has already experienced was a week-long stay this summer at Camp Esperanza, a specially modified summer camp at The Painted Turtle near Lake Hughes. Thanks to the foundation's sponsorship, Aidan was able to experience fishing, boating and other camp activities in the company of other youngsters dealing with some of the same issues he faces.

"I got the top bunk," he said, smiling. "I met one of my best friends there. He's like a brother I never had."

Aidan does have a sister, however, 5-year-old Ava, who wasn't used to her big brother being away at camp.

"She carried his picture around the whole time Aidan was gone," said Josh Langley.

"She really missed him."