Dealers Auto Auction (DAA) Group raised $40,412 for the Kruz’n for a Kure foundation, which aims to find a cure for a fatal form of dwarfism.

Local dealers helped raise the money at DAA Huntsville to continue research with Stanford University to find a cure for Schimke Immuno-Osseous Dysplasia (SIOD), according to the auction.

Kruz’n for a Kure was created by parents Kyle and Jessica Davenport whose children Kruz and Paizlee were both diagnosed with SIOD. There are five cases of SIOD in the U.S. and less than 30 worldwide. Kruz and Paizlee are the only siblings with the disease.

“This form of dwarfism comes along with renal failure and a weakened immune system,” said Jessica Davenport, who suffers from the condition.  “It is a fatal disease with no cure. Children with SIOD will have to have a kidney transplant and still have a life expectancy of only nine to 11 years.”

DAA Huntsville employees were motivated by the Davenport’s story and decided to include an electric toy car and a call to action at one of their sales. 

“It was a 1 in 3 million chance Kyle and I would both carry a mutated form of the SMARCAL1 gene and meet,”  Jessica Davenport said. “Then another 25% chance that our child would receive both of our mutated copies to cause this disease to be active. And both of our children received both mutated copies. We have research started back up at Stanford University. We simply have to raise the funding to keep the research going. We physically cannot do this on our own.”