March is almost over! Thank you so much to all who have supported our community during Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month. As the weather warms up, our thoughts are on summer and how important Camp Youngblood is to those with bleeding disorders!
VHF needs your help to keep supporting young women in the bleeding disorders community like Patti:
“My mom, three of my siblings, and I have hemophilia, factor 11 deficiency. It is a rare bleeding disorder that is especially uncommon in the United States. I found out about VHF through my Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) when I was around eight years old. The first chapter event I attended was the annual education meeting. At this event I was able to learn what it really means to live with hemophilia, rather than just what I had been told. It made me feel like I finally understood my diagnosis.
I attended VHF’s bleeding disorders camp, Camp Youngblood, for eight summers, volunteered one summer, and spent the last two summers as a camp counselor. Camp is so important to me because it is a place where I could come together with other kids affected by a bleeding disorder and we could create special connections. It was also a place where our bleeding disorders didn’t define who we were. Yes, we face a lot of barriers, but we are stronger for it.”
Camp is so important to the kids and teens in the Virginia bleeding disorders community, and costs over $600 to send just one young person!
