Michaela Zalinski

My Great Strides Story

We stride for our 25%. In 2018 my little family welcomed our first cf warrior, we had no clue we were ever carriers. After months of monitoring we welcomed our baby with 2 surgeries for MI and a 2 month NICU stay. We fought weight gain and multiple bowel blockages. In 2020 we welcomed our second warrior, who despite perfect scans needed 2 surgeries for MI and another extensive NICU. In 2022 we welcomed our last warrior, who to many definitions is a medical miracle. Because of the CFF I was blessed with the ability to take Trikafta. Without all of the research and advances the cff has done for the cf community my daughter most likely would have had the same fate as her brothers. Her bowel blockage at 18 weeks would have progressed and most likely would have needed surgery without the Trikafta intervention. 

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis: a progressive, genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends who face the sobering prospect of a shortened lifespan. I walk for them.

Working alongside the CF community, the CF Foundation has fostered the development of more than a dozen CF treatments and helped add decades of life for people with CF. Yet, many people with CF do not benefit from existing therapies. Our vision is a cure for every person with cystic fibrosis – a life free from the burden of this disease – and we will not leave anyone behind.

You can support me!

By supporting my fundraising goal, you have an opportunity in your lifetime to be part of ending this disease. Please consider joining us and help make medical history.