CF Foundation Four Ball Challenge at Tuckaway Country Club

She takes thirty pills every day. She spends hours on a chest therapy machine and taking breathing treatments. All to keep her healthy and her lungs as normal as possible. You could hear a pin drop as her mom told her story to a group of golfers who had been there, out in the sun, laughing, making fun of their golfing skills, and gently ridiculing their buddies since 6:30 that morning. Now they were quiet. They were listening closely as she reminded them that the life expectancy of someone with cystic fibrosis was less than 4 months in the 1950s. And that although the life expectancy is now over 40, there is still a long, long way to go. As her mom spoke, she walked up and hugged her legs. A safe spot perhaps, or comforting her mom, knowing she was talking about something hard.

Unfortunately this is the reality for tens of thousands of people, and one that recently hit our family. My cousin’s daughter Alice has cystic fibrosis. She is not even 18 months old, and she already goes through similar treatments every day. But because of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, there is so much hope for. Because of the research largely funded by the CF Foundation, Alice is part of a drug study that will likely extend her life expectancy beyond what was thought possible just a few years ago. She was possibly the youngest person in the world to receive the drug. This is why taking part in CF Foundation events in the best way I know how is so important to me.

There could not have been a more beautiful day to support such an important cause for the Four Ball Golf Challenge. The Tuckaway Country Club in Franklin served as a stunning backdrop. I could tell everyone was having a great time – whether they were golfing well or not is another story, so I heard – and in the end, they raised tens of thousands of dollars for CF research. The event included 27 holes at Tuckaway’s newly renovated course, breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, live and silent auctions and awards! To find out more about the CF Foundation events in Wisconsin, or how you can support them, visit their website or Facebook page.