"A recognition of what she goes through every day" - Kerry and Piper's story
Early life with CF
When Piper was three weeks old, she was diagnosed through the heel prick test. We knew there was something up, as she was unwell and unable to tolerate food. She has an older brother who is about to turn 11 and until Piper, we didn’t know we were carriers.
She’s been very lucky as when she was two, she started on Orkambi and then Kaftrio. She’s been really well and her symptoms have been well managed. She’s only had one really bad flare-up when she was 3-4 months old and was hospitalised. Apart from that, she’s had various colds here and there, but mainly her health has been good. For the first four years of her life, she was also part of the CF START trial.
I know, from being in the CF community, that we’ve been really lucky with her health so she’s been able to take part in sports and activities as normal. Now she’s a bit older, she also enjoys her physio a bit more and can have fun doing it. When she was younger she hated doing it with her mask and think she found it a bit of a chore. We tried bubble therapy and things like that to make it more fun and she eventually came round to it.
Now she loves the trampoline and jumping on her gymnastics mat. I think it’s just a lot more engaging to do things like that. She’s quite a good runner and fast sprinter too, and that’s what’s inspired her challenge.
Piper’s 5k challenge
Seven-year-old Piper took part in the 5k Your Way challenge for Wear Yellow Day, raising more than £1200. She did the 5k in one day, along the beachfront near where we live. It was a very windy day, and after she finished, she lay down and was exhausted!
Every year she takes part in Wear Yellow Day, either at school or one of her dancing schools, but we saw this challenge and she decided she wanted to do something herself. Wear Yellow Day has always been important for her as she gets to tell people why she’s doing it, make a bit of a fuss and raise awareness of CF.
I supposed it’s a recognition of what she goes through every day, but it’s special and wearing yellow makes it exciting for her.
Piper said: “I’ve done this walk to help all the other people that have cystic fibrosis too”.
Everyone is so proud of Piper and the fearless way she takes on CF every single day!
We are all #TeamCF
From marathons and game-a-thons to the research breakthroughs that shape the future, we're all fundraising for everyone with CF.