2021 VF Patient Hero Videos
Ordinary People – Everyday Heroes. When faced with a diagnosis, the road ahead may look scary. But that’s when our patients with vasculitis tap into their superpowers of strength, hope and resilience. Here are a few of the many stories from our everyday heroes whose positive attitude and determination to fight back against the disease is extraordinarily inspiring.
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Erica Barram
Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA) • 2008
“It’s not what happens to us that defines us, it’s how we ‘choose’ to respond to what happens to us that defines us.”
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Isabel Bautista
Relapsing Polychondritis • 2013
“You are a warrior.
Not because you won,
but because you keep
fighting every single day.”
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Anjum Kohli
Wegener’s Granulomatosis • 2014
“With God all things are possible.”
— Matthew 19:26
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Loveleen Singh
Granulomatosis withpolyangiitis (GPA) • 2019
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
― Maya Angelou
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Mark Street
Granulomatosis withpolyangiitis (GPA) • 2016
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
— Christopher Robin
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Caroline Swearingen
Refractory Takayasu Arteritis • 2017
“Courage is grace under pressure”
— Ernest Hemingway
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Kate Tierney
Eosinophilic granulomatosis withpolyangiitis (EGPA) • 2000
“Always have HOPE in hard times, meaning Having Only Positive Expectations.”
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Cindy Todd
Behcet’s Disease • 2011
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Adisyn Wilson
pANCA / GPA • 2020
“It’s ok to be scared, that’s what makes you brave!”
2021 VF PATIENT HERO
Charlotte Bowen Wiseman
Granulomatosis withpolyangiitis (GPA) • 2020
“Only in the darkness can you seethe stars.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
2021 VF HERO TO PATIENT
Joyce Kullman
“Every day I am inspired by the determination of our patients of all ages. From the 8-year-old giving a class presentation on GPA to the 88-year-old reassuring her family that she’s going to be alright. They are all heroes in my book.”
2021 VF HERO TO PATIENT
Peter Merkel, MD
“Why not a cure?”
