Each month through the end of the year, we’ll feature a special person or team who played an integral role in the 2010 Great Strides walks. We hope you’ll find this story, the eleventh in the series, to be inspiring as we continue to make Great Strides in our efforts to find a cure for CF!

Jackie Magner

The Magner family and Chicago Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk teamed up with hundreds of family members, friends and other members of the CF community to walk in Great Strides this past May.

Why I Walk

When our son John was very young, he had some digestive issues that led us to investigate whether he had cystic fibrosis. My husband Casey and I only knew the basics of the disease, and then we quickly learned that both John and our youngest son Matthew, who was only three months old, have CF.

What Makes Me Proud

John and Matthew can light up a room and get everybody laughing. They are definitely vivacious.

They are also best, best friends. Matthew will do anything that John does. They do similar CF treatments, and I think the comfort of having one another is very helpful for them.

My Biggest Challenge

CF is a part of our life and we roll with it. I’m a glass-is-half-full kind of person, always looking for the positive in things. Whatever the future holds for our children, we just want them to be happy.

Right now, my biggest challenge is to encourage John and Matthew to embrace their CF treatments. They are so young, they don’t understand why they have to stop and do treatments every day. Casey and I focus on staying strong and instilling discipline in them so they can take care of themselves as they grow older.

My Support System

We are definitely blessed with a wonderful family, and we have friends from our neighborhood, our parish and our school who all want to do something to help. Great Strides is their way to reach out and support us.

This year was our fifth year walking in Great Strides, and about 350 to 400 people came out to walk with our team. It’s nice to have people behind you, helping out with your cause.

Tips for Other Teams

Starting last year, we sent Thanksgiving cards to everyone we invite to walk with us. We say thank you for supporting our family, and then we report how much money we raised in the past year. It’s sweet and simple, and people tell us they love it.

Then a few months later, we send out letters and e-mails publicizing the upcoming Great Strides walk. That message is more detailed and includes updates about the boys, and a few little bulleted points about what the CF Foundation has accomplished over the past year. Keeping people updated with the boys’ progress is a way to help them feel more involved, and feel good about supporting our team.

My Dream

My ultimate dream is that we’ll find a cure for cystic fibrosis within my boys’ lifetime. In the meantime, I hope that the CF Foundation can continue to find ways to lessen the burden on patients. We’re so close, I just want to knock out this disease so we can move on to curing other diseases — there are a lot out there to fight.

Additional Resources

Form a Great Strides walk team today!
Read the previous story in the Great Strides, Great Stories series.