This January, I’ll be standing at the starting line of the Walt Disney World Marathon and this time, every mile will mean something a little more.

After months of submitting charity applications, joining waitlists, and hoping for an opportunity, I was incredibly grateful to be offered a bib to run the 2027 Walt Disney World Marathon in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. Nearly 40,000 children and adults in the United States are living with CF, with an estimated 105,000 people diagnosed worldwide. For many, living with CF means medications, airway clearance, frequent medical appointments and hospitalizations, and treatment routines that can consume hours of every single day. And there is still no cure.

The progress that has been made, however, is extraordinary. In the 1950s, a child born with cystic fibrosis rarely lived long enough to attend elementary school. Today, thanks to advances in research and treatment, people with CF are going to college, building careers, getting married, raising families, and living longer than generations before them could have imagined.

But there is still so much work left to do. Even with those advances, many people continue to face serious complications, hospitalizations, transplantation, and shortened lives. New treatments have transformed CF care for many, but they do not work for everyone. That is why the ultimate goal remains the same: a cure for every person with cystic fibrosis.

As a nurse, I have had the privilege of caring for patients and families facing incredibly difficult medical journeys, including organ transplantation. Those experiences have stayed with me. I have seen what it looks like when medicine, uncertainty, fear, hope, and an extraordinary amount of human resilience all exist in the same room. There are some kinds of strength you never fully understand until you witness someone having no choice but to find them.

That idea of resilience feels particularly meaningful to me this year.

This has been one of the most challenging years of my own life. Our family has navigated a military deployment to an unexpected wartime environment, bringing months of uncertainty, changed plans, missed milestones, worry, and exhaustion. It has meant learning over and over again how to keep moving forward and finding strength when the road ahead feels heavy and uncertain.

My struggles are very different from those faced by someone living with cystic fibrosis, and I would never compare the two. But this year has taught me something about the human capacity to endure hard things, and about the importance of hope when circumstances are outside of our control.

There is always someone carrying a burden we cannot see. There is always a reason to extend compassion. And even when we cannot change the circumstances in front of us, we can choose to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

A marathon asks you to keep going when you’re tired. To trust the work you’ve put in. To believe that the difficult mile you’re in won’t last forever. And to remember that sometimes the only way to reach the finish line is simply to take the next step.

This January, I’ll be carrying a slightly modified piece of Disney wisdom with me for all 26.2 miles:

Faith, trust, and perseverance- because sometimes pixie dust isn’t enough.

I’ll run in honor of the incredible resilience of people living with cystic fibrosis, the families who walk beside them, the medical teams who care for them, and the researchers working toward the day when CF stands for Cure Found.

My goal is to raise at least $1,500 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, helping support research, care, advocacy, and the continued pursuit of a cure.

If my story or this mission moves you, I would be incredibly grateful for a donation of any amount. Every contribution brings us another step, another mile, closer to a future where everyone with cystic fibrosis has the opportunity to live a long, full life.

We can do hard things. We can keep going. And we can keep hoping for something better ahead.

 

Please note:
 

Your Donation Is Tax-Deductible

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means your donation may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

For donors who need this information for tax purposes or employer matching programs:

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Tax ID (EIN): 13-1930701