Christen Graham

My Great Strides Story

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. Of those 40,000, one is particularly important to me: my daughter Madeline. I walk first for her.

I also walk for families who are just learning about their child's CF diagnosis. The weeks and months following Madeline's diagnosis were some of the hardest of my life, not because there wasn't hope, but because I hadn't yet embraced it. Since Madeline was born in 2014, the prognosis for CF patients has improved in astounding ways. Still, I remember what it felt like to begin to process what it meant for our child's life to be marked by a disease we personally knew so little about. To me, the work of the CF Foundation has given me hope that my child will experience health today and in the future. Knowing that, I walk so that other families (and patients) can experience that same hope.

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.