My name is Sarah and I am a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete. I ran my first road race when I was ten years old, but only got into running more seriously in grade twelve when I decided to train for a half marathon.
My parents emigrated from the Netherlands in 1952 when my oldest sister Martha was 1 year old. Our mother had three children at that time, Martha being the youngest. Theo and Al were 3 and 2, respectively. Once in Canada they had four more children, Frank, John, Mary Ellen and...
"I found out that I have ADPKD just before my 45th birthday. I had just won a silver medal at the UEAJJF Canada National Pro Brazilian Jiujitsu Championship, and felt like my soul had been sucked away after throwing my opponent to the ground and landing on his hipbone with...
"My name is Anastacia, and I am a 22 year old young woman. I, along with my mother and older brother, have ADPKD. My mother was diagnosed with ADPKD when she was 24 years old, shortly after I was born. Due to my mother’s adoption, she knew nothing of her...
"I am a young, 67-year-old mom and grandmother to a son, daughter, and four beautiful grandchildren. My preliminary diagnosis of PKD was around the age of 20, with confirmation when my kidney was removed at the age 40."
"Hailey-Ann is a vivacious, four-and-a-half-year-old girl who loves life. When I was only 21-weeks pregnant with her, my pregnancy went from one of joy and wonder, to one of fear and uncertainty. That is because at my 21-week ultrasound with our high-risk team, they discovered that my unborn child would...
"I was diagnosed with PKD in 2003 at the age of 33. My diagnosis was a shock, as I didn’t know of any family members being affected. I reached out to my father’s family in BC, whom we had never met, and discovered that my cousin had been diagnosed around the same...
"I am 49 years old, and I was diagnosed with PKD after our youngest of 3 children was born. I had never heard of PKD before my diagnosis. My parents don’t have, it so I mutated the gene. When our girls got older, we had them tested by ultrasounds, and...
"My name is Theresa Gray-Gunn. In 1968, my Dad passed away from a brain aneurysm. My Mom was brave enough to donate his body to science for research, and that is when they discovered that his aneurysm was caused by PKD."
"Helping to raise PKD awareness is an important and sensitive topic for me, based on how I have seen this often fatal disease devastate many people’s lives. My sister-in-law’s father suffered from PKD and waited on a transplant list for several years without ever finding a match. It is believed...