Courteney’s Cause For The Kids

Drag queen bingo can get a little raunchy and there are many chuckles. But as a father of three healthy little girls, Access Hollywood?s Billy Bush found somber moments in between the laughs on Monday night, because the irony is, it raised money for a heart-wrenching disease called EB.

Courteney Cox invited Billy to get to know more about the cause that is so close to her heart.

It?s called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) and it?s a genetic, life-threatening disease of the skin affecting 100,000 children in the U.S.

Courteney told Billy the kids are called ?butterfly children? because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly?s wings.

?No one knows about this, we have to get people to learn. It?s rare, but it?s out there and it?s terrible,? Cox said of EB. ?Kids are born without a layer of skin or a gene that binds two layers of skin together.?

And the result is blistering. The slightest touch can cause serious wounds.

Andrea Joseph, a close friend of Courteney, has a two-and-a-half year old son, Brandon, who has EB.

?I know he?s got abrasions and bruises on his legs. How easy can that happen,? Billy asked Andrea (pictured above with Brandon and Courteney)about her son.

?Very easily,? she said. ?It can be as simple as bumping up against something or rolling over in his bed. It actually can cause a tear and a blister in the skin.?

Brandon is reason number one Courteney joined her famous friends ? husband David Arquette, Reese Witherspoon, Rosanna Arquette, James Marsden, Holly Robinson Peete, Skeet Ulrich, David Spade and many more ? taking to the Comedy Store stage to focus the spotlight on the kids and at the same time, raising $200,000.

All proceeds will go to EB research in the hopes Brandon and others afflicted with EB can have a normal life.

?His feet are the worst. They are constantly bandaged,? Andrea explained about Brandon. ?We sort of have resigned ourselves to what he will be able to do, which is a lot of things, but there are other things he won?t be able to do, like be on a baseball team or play football.?

?Never?? Billy asked.

?Unless he?s really padded,? Andrea smiled.

And as a mom herself, Courteney knows she is fortunate to have children in good health.

?I feel I?m the luckiest person in the world. I feel really lucky and if there is something we can do to make this kid?s life better later on so he doesn?t have to [suffer]? besides your skin, this affects your esophagus. You blister everywhere. It?s so intense,? Courteney said.

Courteney also serves as the spokesperson for Kinerase Skincare, who donated $35,000 to the event, as well as 5 percent of all proceeds of the new Kinerase Skin
Clear Collection and the new Kinerase Vitamins through the month of October sold at Sephora, Nordstrom, and Kinerase.com.

For more information on Epidermolysis Bullosa, visit www.ebkids.org.