Photos and Article by Lieba Nesis
Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) held its annual gala on Thursday October 13th 2022 at Cipriani 42nd Street with cocktails beginning at 6 PM. Founded in 1998, GLA is the premier organization on Lyme, funding the most promising and innovative projects spearheaded by the best and brightest researchers. Despite Lyme’s rampant growth there is woefully inadequate government funding, no definitive cure, and tests that are insufficiently sensitized to the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium. This pivotal evening was produced by party planner to the stars Larry Scott of Lawrence Scott Events who donated his spectacular designs and decor for the fourth year in a row and brought along New Jersey Housewives Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs and Jennifer Fessler for the festivities. Co-host of “Good Day New York” Rosanna Scotto, another close friend of Scott, emceed in a gorgeous sequined Alice and Olivia jacket as she too has many close friends impacted by the dreaded disease.
Every year this dinner leaves me lugubrious as those whose lives have been devastated plaintively share their harrowing story-and tonight was no different. Lyme disease was first diagnosed in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut and currently an estimated 476,000 people a year are treated for the disease in the United States and 200,000 in Western Europe. Blood tests are often negative in the early stages of Lyme leading to misdiagnoses amongst myriad patients. In about 15-20% of untreated people Lyme causes neurological problems with a staggering 5-20% of patients experiencing chronic disabling symptoms. Celebrities including Yolanda and Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber, Richard Gere, Avril Lavigne, Amy Schumer, Shania Twain, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Christie Brinkley and Kellly Osbourne have spoken out about Lyme’s devastating effects. The standard treatment continues to be doxycycline and in more extreme cases intravenous antibiotics.
However, there are thousands whose disease progresses to debilitating life altering levels. The evening honored one such sufferer, the 25-year-old Atty Cleworth, who was left incapacitated for the past ten years due to an undiagnosed case of Lyme that frequently left her wheelchair-bound. Her mother, Kim, tearfully described Atty’s horrific journey that stripped her of her life and left her daughter contemplating suicide. Miraculously three years ago they discovered Dr. Christine Schaffner who quickly made the Lyme diagnosis and through continuous intravenous immunoglobulin (Ivig) therapy Atty is now on the other side of the disease and will be living on her own for the first time as she moves to Los Angeles in two weeks. The anguish etched on Atty’s mother’s face was heartbreaking as she recounted the struggle for a diagnosis and the recurring assessment by doctors that depression was the cause.
Speaking of illnesses, the $1,000 ticketed event had only 300 attendees which Chairman of the Board Paul Ross explained was due to the ongoing pandemic. Perhaps those who might attend a dinner about Lyme are more careful about contracting diseases. Nonetheless, the quality of the crowd was a top notch group of friendly and educated New Yorkers who enjoyed the delectable beef and fish dinner along with the lengthy cocktail hour. The evening concluded with the singing of ninth place American Idol winner Pia Toscano who joined a recorded Andrea Bocelli for an epic duet of “The Prayer”-a hopeful note for an organization devoted to healing others.
