While much of the rest of the country was heading to Super Bowl parties on Sunday night, the focus of nearly 100 people gathered in front of the State House was far from the game.

The crowd was gathered to see the State House lit up blue, green and purple to support Landon Vazquez, 6, a Warwick resident who was diagnosed with IPH in 2023.

IPH, short for idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis, is a lung disease that largely affects children under 10 years old and results in respiratory issues and permanent lung damage, according to the National Institutes of Health. The disease is considered rare, with no official statistics on the number of cases diagnosed nationally per year. No cure is known.

Those colors, according to Nancy Curran, Landon’s grandmother, represent and acknowledge those with rare diseases and those searching for cures for them.

“We wanted to bring light to rare diseases, and with Landon, IPH in particular,” Curran said. “We’re trying to keep it in everyone’s minds that we’re still here.”

Curran established Breath of Hope Rhode Island, which aims to raise awareness and funds for a cure for IPH and other rare diseases, following news of her grandson’s diagnosis. In the year since its founding, she said, the organization has raised $180,000 and has a goal of raising $650,000.

Nearly 100 friends and family members traveled to the State House to see the lighting and support Landon. Seeing that level of support, Curran said, made her and her daughter emotional.

“My daughter just filled up with tears, and she turned to me and she said ‘I absolutely cannot believe this,’” Curran said. “My son-in-law was absolutely in awe of the outpouring of support, and the schoolmates and parents and faculty and Landon’s soccer friends that showed up. They’ve got an amazing support group.”

Landon was first diagnosed with IPH in 2023, not long after his fifth birthday. Symptoms had been popping up, and he has since seen experts from the University of North Carolina who focus on diseases such as IPH.

Over the last year, Curran said, Vazquez has been doing well, and the treatments he’s received thus far have worked.

“He’s doing remarkably – that’s the only word I can say,” Curran said. “He’s thriving. I mean, he’s had RSV, he’s had multiple colds, like every other kid, and he’s handled it unbelievably well. So that’s huge, and means the treatments that they are doing are working.”

More events, Curran said, would be on the way to support her grandson and to raise awareness of diseases like IPH.

“We’re doing an annual campaign and reaching out to everybody,” Curran said. “It’s been year; hopefully people are still on board.

Breath of Hope RI accepts contributions at breathofhoperi.org.