Kelli Clark

April 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

Twenty-four years ago we embarked on an unknown journey with Cystic Fibrosis; many of you have been with us along the way. There have been numerous highs and lows during these years and we have continued to fight for Wells and all those living with Cystic Fibrosis. This is an incredible time for the cystic fibrosis community, as we are living in a new era of CF. Extraordinary progress has given so much hope to families like ours. Wells now can accomplish life-long dreams we once thought were not possible.

As of May 2023, we are the proud parents of a N.C. State graduate! Wells is gainfully employed at Fidelity Investments in Raleigh pursuing his passion for investments and financial planning.  He is truly enjoying a stage of life that was not promised to him and one that so many of us take for granted.

We recently attended a CF Volunteer Leadership conference – 600 individuals strong – parents, grandparents, clinicians, leaders with a theme Hope in Action. The CF Foundation remains steadfast in its commitment to drive forward new therapies in pursuit of a cure by investing $300 million each year to research. There is so much promise and hope on the horizon with 50 potential genetic therapies in the pipeline.

We continue to be grateful for these medical advancements that have allowed Wells to live such a healthy and fulfilled life. Trikafta (a triple combination therapy), which Wells began taking in November 2019, has been life-changing for him. Trikafta has enabled Wells to decrease some of his medications and time spent doing airway clearance. Thanks to Trikafta and the previous 2 modulators, he has been hospitalized only once in 7 years! Wells must still manage taking 25-30 pills a day and exercising enough to keep his lungs healthy.

You might wonder why we are still passionate about raising funds for the CF Foundation.  While thankfully Wells continues to thrive, we have not reached our goal of finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.  Ten percent of the CF population cannot benefit from these life changing drugs.  In addition, recently, Wells had his first health setback in several years. The struggle of multiple rounds of antibiotics, increased chest therapy and inhaled nebulized medications were a reminder to both Wells and us that CF is ever present in his life. We will continue to fight until ALL people with Cystic Fibrosis are living free of the burden of these cumbersome daily treatments and medications, and we can ultimately celebrate a cure.

This year marks our 23rd year as Warriors for Wells. You can help us continue to fight for the Cure by joining our Great Strides Campaign! We will be walking for a Cure for Cystic Fibrosis on Saturday, May 4th at Fourth of July Park in Kernersville and hope you will join our fight. A generous donation to the CF Foundation in honor of Wells: $50, $100, or $1,000 – whatever amount you feel comfortable with – would be greatly appreciated. You can make a donation online by clicking on the yellow buttons on the left of this page.

Our family is extremely grateful to each of you for your continued support of Warriors for Wells. Thanks to you, Wells’ future looks incredibly bright.

Until It's Done,
Kelli, Perry, Stuart, Chase and Wells