23 September 2019

For the month of October, Hannah, Hutch, Aaron and Chelsey are going to walk (climb!) up Puketapu every day to help raise awareness for CF and fundraise for Breath4CF for those living with CF in Otago.

Hannah and Hutch share their view of having a child with CF:

"We have two beautiful daughters, Sophie aged 10 and Lucy aged 6. Sophie has Cystic Fibrosis. She was diagnosed at 3 weeks from the newborn heel prick test.

Behind the scenes it’s a daily battle to keep up her medicine, about 20 pills per day more if she is unwell and she nebulises twice a day, 7 days per week. Sophie must have a diet high in calories and salt. We attend three-monthly out-patient appointments with lung function tests, as well as yearly blood tests, chest x-ray, abdomen ultrasound and a bone scan, to make sure everything is ok.

If Sophie becomes unwell it can mean a trip to hospital to get a PICC line and IV antibiotics for two weeks."

Exercise benefits us all, but people with CF benefit even more from being physically active because exercise can:

• Slow the rate of decline in lung function which means children with CF may keep good lung function longer
• Help clear mucous from the lungs allowing for easier breathing
• Create more reserve for the whole body to rely on during periods of lung infection. This means that someone who is fit may be able to resume their activity faster following a bout of illness.

If you have CF, being physically active will not just make you feel better, it will improve your quality of life.

"Living life with CF can be hard at times but Sophie is so brave and doesn’t let it stop her from doing anything and she never complains. We encourage her to participate in as many sports and physical activities as possible."

You can follow their climbs through October on their Facebook page, and maybe join them on a weekend walk, if you’re in the area!

If you’d like to help in the raising of funds for Breath4CF for people with CF in Otago, you can donate here.