Joseph is a 12-year-old boy who has Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and even while battling with the disease, he remains full of energy, hopeful and generous.
He has two siblings, a big brother and a little sister. Because he is the only one in his family who has CF, the doctors didn’t understand why Joseph was sick in the beginning. He was about 18 months old when his CF was diagnosed after he went to the hospital for an injury on his forehead.
Despite the fact that Joseph takes a lot of medication for his young age, he is still optimistic and hopes to receive a lung transplant one day. He has always thought of organ transplant as a miracle, however when a family acquaintance died from an organ transplant rejection, Joseph had a hard time handling it because it was a real shock. “It was a shock for him, he recovered from it but I think since that episode, Joseph has really realized that he could die of his disease”, explained Andréanne, Joseph’s mother.
For 2 years, Joseph has been dealing with issues gaining weight. In the meantime, his self-consciousness and his appearance, as well as the appearance of his peers, is beginning to change. With adolescence, Joseph is beginning to see the difference between him and his classmates because of his disease.
These events have showed him how important it is to enjoy life at its fullest, and have made him more mature. It has also made him recognize the importance of rigorously taking his medications if he wants to become an adult. Joseph has found resilience and a wonderful passion for life.
Recently, he went to Walt Disney World thanks to the Children's Wish Foundation and later, he decided in the spur of the moment to dye his hair blue. These are few of the many examples demonstrating that Joseph is not ready to let the disease get him down and that the limit is only on our mind.
