Timothy Herbert of Clarkston is leading his team in their seventh annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Great Strides Walk.
Herbert, founder of Timothy Herbert Financial Group, is walking in honor of Kate, the daughter of long-time clients and close friends who has been battling Cystic Fibrosis since birth.
‘Each donation raised means another breath of air for Kate and every child affected by this disease,? Herbert said.
The walk is Saturday, May 16, at the Municipal Park in downtown Rochester.
Twice a day for 25 minutes, 10-year-old Kate has a chest therapy, she takes nine different nebulized medications to keep her lungs healthy and takes enzymes with all of her meals. She is struggling to gain weight and is currently being tested for diabetes. Fifty years ago, most children who were diagnosed with CF were lucky if they lived to attend elementary school.
Today, the median predicted age of survival for people with CF is in the early 40s. The steady ‘aging? of the CF population reflects progress being made in understanding and treating CF. The FDA recently approved a drug, Kalydeco, which was the first to address the underlying cause of CF. There is another drug, currently in Phase 3 clinical trials that in conjunction with Kalydeco, will help Kate. This particular drug improves lung function in people who have Kate’s form of cystic fibrosis. If this drug continues to show promising results, it will be available to patients in the next two to three years. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.timothyherbert.com.