The Luke and Rachel Batten Foundation was formed in 2001 to honor Luke and Rachel Watson. They, along with thousands of other children in our country and around the world, are afflicted with a fatal degenerative neurological disease called Batten Disease.
Luke was born September 17, 1992 a healthy happy baby. Sixteen months later on January 28, 1994 Rachel arrived. The Watson family was complete. It was in November of 1998 that Luke began having trouble with his eyes which started a journey ended with the diagnosis of Juvenile Batten Disease in February of 1999.
In June of that same year Rachel was also diagnosed. This merciless disease has caused Luke and Rachel to go blind, have seizures, and regress in skills they had once mastered. Every day they struggle to do normal daily activities. We have been working with doctors and researchers around the country since our formation.
Great strides in research have been made since that time, hopefully in a small part because of our efforts. We are pleased to team with the Beyond Batten Foundation to continue and consolidate efforts to find a treatment for Luke and Rachel as well as the many others who suffer from this terrible illness.
Luke and Rachel Batten Foundation is a registered 501 (c) 3 organization with Tax ID # 32-0011285