Alyssa Doyle
I was diagnosed with CF in 1990 when I was 5 years old. After years of coming down with pneumonia and multiple ear infections, my doctor finally said, lets test her for Cystic Fibrosis. A disease that wasn't well known at that time and that my parents had never even heard of.
Once my test results came back they tested my brother Danny who was 3 at the time. Turns out he also tested positive for it. back then, in 1990, my parents looked Cystic Fibrosis up in the encyclopedia and read that the average life expectancy was just 16 years old. Imagine, finding out that both of your children have a disease that might take them before they get to be adults. But my mom and dad didn't let that control our lives. They did everything they could to make sure Danny and I had a full life. Camping trips, road trips, just about anything we wanted to do they made it happen.
Danny was always sicker than I was. He was in and out of the hospital more often than I was.
He passed away in 2006 at the age of 17 and a half.
We have been participating in the Great Strides walk pretty much since its inception, but after his passing is when we changed our team name to Team Shamrock. We walk every year in his honor and in his memory. He was very proud of his Irish heritage, and I think he'd be so happy that we all continue to do what we can to find a cure for CF. Not only do we walk in green as Team Shamrock but my daughter, now 14, is named in his honor as well. Here is the link to Danni's Great Strides fundraising page if you'd like to donate to her https://fundraise.cff.org/SanDiego2025/DanniDoyle
Thank you for reading this. I hope you will join us this year at Liberty Station to walk for a cure!
Once my test results came back they tested my brother Danny who was 3 at the time. Turns out he also tested positive for it. back then, in 1990, my parents looked Cystic Fibrosis up in the encyclopedia and read that the average life expectancy was just 16 years old. Imagine, finding out that both of your children have a disease that might take them before they get to be adults. But my mom and dad didn't let that control our lives. They did everything they could to make sure Danny and I had a full life. Camping trips, road trips, just about anything we wanted to do they made it happen.
Danny was always sicker than I was. He was in and out of the hospital more often than I was.
He passed away in 2006 at the age of 17 and a half.
We have been participating in the Great Strides walk pretty much since its inception, but after his passing is when we changed our team name to Team Shamrock. We walk every year in his honor and in his memory. He was very proud of his Irish heritage, and I think he'd be so happy that we all continue to do what we can to find a cure for CF. Not only do we walk in green as Team Shamrock but my daughter, now 14, is named in his honor as well. Here is the link to Danni's Great Strides fundraising page if you'd like to donate to her https://fundraise.cff.org/SanDiego2025/DanniDoyle
Thank you for reading this. I hope you will join us this year at Liberty Station to walk for a cure!
MAY
2
2
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