June 29, 2010
Best Friends Separated by Disease, Unite to Raise Awareness about Organ Donation and Cystic Fibrosis
Caledon, ON—They will never be able to exchange a hug, style each other’s hair or whisper a close secret, but Hattie Dunstan, 22, and Lindsay Bishop, 23, will always consider each other best friends. They call themselves “cystic cysters”.
Both girls suffer from a chronic genetic condition called Cystic Fibrosis, which primarily affects the digestive system and lungs. The disease requires an intense daily regime including inhaled nebulizer treatments, physiotherapy, swallowing countless pills to help digest food and sometimes hospital stays for IV antibiotics.
Due to their disease, they cannot be in close contact since they grow bacteria in their lungs that could be harmful if transmitted to the other person. So they phone, they text, they Skype and they send messages via Facebook and e-mail—multiple times a day.
“Us two girls living with a life threatening illness, CF, have found an unattainable bond to one another. We call each other cystic cysters. Sisters (cysters) by choice,” says Dunstan.
Together, this summer they will campaign for Cystic Fibrosis and Organ Donation Awareness. Hattie Dunstan’s CF has now advanced to the point that she requires a double lung transplant in order to live. She is currently waiting at her home in Caledon for ‘the call’.
To cap off the summer of campaigning, on August 26th, 2010 at Glen Eagle Golf course in Caledon, ON, the two girls, along with a committee of Hattie’s friends, will be hosting a Fashion Show Fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. The proceeds will go to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“This summer all of my ‘sisters by choice’ have come together on the Couture Fashion for a Cure Found committee to help raise funds to cure this deadly disease. Together we want to make CF stand for Cure found!” says Dunstan.
About Couture Fashion for a Cure Found
Couture Fashion for a Cure Found will feature 8 local clothing stores as well as independent designers, including Hattie Dunstan’s company You’ve Got Hattitude. Tickets cost $40.00 and the event will be held at Glen Eagle Golf Course in Bolton. Thirty of Hattie’s friends and acquaintances will be modeling and dancing for the evening, with live music from Megan Bonnell, hors d'oeuvres, a raffle, silent auction and a cash bar. Throughout the summer, the Couture Fashion for a Cure Found committee will be putting on car washes, local bar nights, and many other events throughout the community stressing these two important issues and raising money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Efforts thus far have raised over 5,000 dollars.
About the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a Canada-wide health charity, with 50 volunteer chapters, that funds cystic fibrosis research and care. In 2010, the Foundation is supporting more than 50 research projects, which are exploring all aspects of the CF puzzle; from investigating new methods of fighting infection and inflammation in the lungs, to finding new therapies that target the basic defect at a cellular level.
For more information, visit www.cysticfibrosis.ca
For media inquiries contact:
Lindsay Bishop
416-859-4538
media@cfforcf.com
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