Cheryl Matthews

            In 1982 Bob was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at the age of six months. He was the first patient in the newly established CF clinic at UMass Hospital. Family and friends began participating in the Great Strides fundraiser in 1983. This is our thirty-fifth year walking.The Worcester group walked locally for five years,and has been nationwide for the past thirty years.

         The name Bob’s Dream Team was coined in 1993, in recognition of the Magic Johnson – Larry Bird Olympic basketball team and while Bob was participating in various youth basketball leagues in Worcester. The name stuck.

         Bob is now 36 years old and works as a DJ in Central Massachusetts. Although he rarely complains, he has had to deal with numerous CF related health issues. He has had twenty-plus sinus surgeries. He was diagnosed with diabetes at age twelve. He has been hospitalized countless times, as a child and as an adult, for respiratory illnesses. This past January, Bob spent twelve days at UMass Medical Center and was readmitted to the hospital for a week in February. He requires numerous medications, insulin, and breathing treatments each day. The daily battle of living with cystic fibrosis can be physically and emotionally exhausting, but Bob never quits.

         Thank you to all of you who have supported us throughout the years. In recent years medical science has made promising progress in the treatment of CF, but the work is far from finished. Please join us once again in our efforts to support research to end this devastating disease. This year's walk is at eleven a.m. on May18th at Quinsigamond State Park.

             Thanks again,

                Cheryl and Kirwin