My sister, Samantha Carroll was thirteen the day her whole world changed … She had been an army brat bouncing from military post to military post her entire life. Nobody thought much of the fact that she had had pneumonia three times. Everybody thought she was perfectly fine. That is, until she got sick with pneumonia for the fourth time and, despite outpatient treatment, wasn’t getting any better. So Sam was sent to a pediatric pulmonologist who took one look at her and knew there was a problem. And he was pretty sure that it was cystic fibrosis.

Imagine, if you can, how you would feel if you were happy and carefree one day and the next sentenced to spending around 4 hours every day doing medical treatments, taking a list of pills that filled up an Excel spreadsheet, and spending at least 20 days every year in the hospital…AND knowing you had to do this forever. But Sam never complained once.

Today, Sam is still pretty healthy and is finishing up her senior year of College. She spends her days student teaching a class of 1st graders. She has plenty of challenges to face in the future but we know that her future is much brighter these days due to the tireless work of The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

For years you have been supporting us through your participation in Shimmyathon. This year, we invite you to join the Darsey family by making a donation towards this year’s Great Strides Walk in Atlanta on Saturday, May 21 at Georgia Tech.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Sam and the thousands living with CF across the country.

Hugs, Wendy