What do you do when you find out that the beautiful young child that has brought so much excitment, hope and wonder into your life has a life threatening condition? How do you face endless days of worry and complicated treatments?
Mark and Trilby Strathem’s first child, Kiah, has just turned one and yet she has already faced a lifetime of challenges. I spoke to them during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM last week.
They say on their website, “When Kiah was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, our world shattered and our hearts broke. Fortunately, the staff at PMH and people from Cystic Fibrosis WA were there to help us pick up the pieces and start to glue our lives back together again. Princess Margaret Hospital for Children continues to provide Kiah with the care she needs through their CF Clinic and CFWA continue to provide Kiah and our family with the knowledge and support we need to live with Cystic Fibrosis. We are very grateful for their support and in turn want to support them and ensure that they can continue to provide the vital care they give to all CF children and their families.”
The inspiring thing about the Strathem family is that instead of shutting out the rest of the world and putting all their efforts into the considerable challenges they face, they’ve decided to do something to help others.
Today Mark and his father Kirk started walking from Adelaide to Perth, a distance of around 3 500 kilometres. That distance is likely to take over two months. Their epic journey, dubbed the Inspire Tour, will raise the profile of Cystic Fibrosis and raise money for research to find better treatments and hopefully a cure. Obviously the funds raised will benefit Kiah, but they will also be making a difference for many, many more people faced with fighting CF.
They are covering all their own costs (which are considerable) so that every dollar raised can be passed on to where it is needed. That’s an amazing effort.
Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited, recessive genetic condition which mainly affects the lungs, digestive system and the sweat glands. It is the most common life threatening condition affecting Australian children. Cystic Fibrosis is a condition in which there is considerable variation in the severity of symptoms.
I know that there are a million good causes and so we all tend to switch off a little unless something directly touches our lives but can I ask you to check out the Inspire Tour website? Will you let yourself be touched by their story? Would you be prepared to consider making a donation to this cause to show them that they’re not facing this on their own?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Cystic Fibrosis – Princess Margaret Hospital – Sonshine FM
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I knew someone with this and it was such a painful and debilitating illness. Thanks for doing this.