37 Years

Imagine you were told that you or somebody you loved was only expected to live to their early 20's (I realize that many of you don't have to imagine this...).

That was Tricia's prognosis when she was just a few months old.

Tricia has seen many of her CF friends from her childhood days at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) pass away before her.

Fortunately, because of the generosity of people like you and I, Tricia is nearly 26 years old. Millions of dollars have been raised through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) in the past several years...every penny has gone into funding research for new treatments and the search for a cure.

And every day, the prognosis is becoming more hopeful and the cure is becoming one day closer to being found.

Seth Soria is 3 years old. He was diagnosed with CF a little over a year ago. Based on the statistics, Seth has a 50% of living to see his 37th birthday. If you met Seth without knowing anything about him, most days you probably wouldn't even know he was sick.

Although I have not met Seth, I do know his grandmother, Mary.

Mary was introduced to us by the CFF office in Raleigh just after Seth was diagnosed. Mary and the rest of Seth's family were looking for another CF family to talk to because they knew very little about the disease. Tricia and I were just beginning to organize the first ever Great Strides Walk for CF on the OBX. Mary and "Seth's Angels" joined our team that year in helping to organize the walk, and with the help of hundreds of other people, we raised over $30,000 (which I am told is great for a first-time walk).

While Tricia's journey with CF has been ongoing for many years, Seth (and thousands more) is just beginning his journey.

Please, take a few minutes to check out Seth's Story and consider what you might be able to do to insure that Seth can live well beyond 37 years.

Thanks.

Nate