THUNDER BAY – Karen Daneliski hopes that an annual event held every May for more than 30 years will come to an end by next year.
“I really hope so,” she said. “I really hope this may be the last year we have to do the walk and maybe next year we can have a party when we find the cure.”
But until that happens, Daneliski and many others will continue to gather and walk to find a cure for cystic fibrosis just like the more than 70 people did on Sunday for the 2018 Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History.
The walk first began in the 1980s and was known as the Moon Walk. In the last 10 years, it has changed to the Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History. But despite the name change, the goal has always been the same.
“Walks like this help get the research going and get the drugs and the controls so our CF warriors can live longer and more productive lives,” Daneliski said.
This year Daneliski hopes the walk will raise at least $10,000 for CF research and support services.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that primarily affects children and young adults. It causes a persistent and ongoing infection in the lungs that can eventually lead to the destruction of the lungs and death.
However, advancements in treatments have allowed people diagnosed with CF to live much longer.
“CF is the most common, fatal genetic diseases that affects children and young adults in Canada,” Daneliski said. “It used to be that children that were diagnosed with CF did not make it to go to kindergarten. They are now living into their 40s, 50s, and beyond.”
But there is still a lot more that needs to be done to make CF history. Daneliski, who has been involved with the walk since she was in high school, said she has had friends and family members diagnosed with the disease, which is why she continues to work so tirelessly at organizing community events to keep moving forward toward a cure.
“I made a promise to a friend I lost in 2011 that I would continue the fight until we no longer need to do it,” she said.
And she is hopeful that fight will come to an end soon, so people will no longer have to walk, and people will no longer have to live with the constricting symptoms of CF.
But until that day, she and so many others will continue to do what they can to ensure people facing a diagnosis know they will see people like Daneliski continuing the fight.
“Just bringing in the dollars helps the research and allows us to have these people around longer, let them go to school, get married, and have families of their own, and that’s what counts,” Daneliski said.
