Meet Kathleen

Meet Kathleen Green:

22 year-old Kathleen grew up in the tiny town of Lawrence on the NSW North Coast with her parents and younger sister. She now lives in Brisbane and is about to finish her Journalism and Arts degree at UQ. Kathleen doesn’t have CF, but her little sister, Abbie, does.

“When Abbie was born, my parents had no idea what CF was, let alone that they were carriers,” she says.

Abbie’s diagnosis lead to most of the immediate and extended family getting tested for the CF gene, with the discovery that a lot of the family members were carriers. Kathleen was one of them.

“I’m still only young, but one day I’m going to want a family and I want my children to be CF free!”

For a long time, Kathleen didn’t understand what CF was or the implications it had on her sister’s health and future.

“I grew up thinking that every child knew what the inside of the RBCH looked like! And Abbie’s coughing and weight issues seemed completely normal, because that was all I knew!” she says.

Luckily for the Green family, Abbie has been one of the ‘healthy’ CF sufferers. She has only had two hospital admissions, and has maintained a healthy weight for years now.

“Abbie is my hero! I still can’t get over how amazing, talented and brave she is! She is one of the smartest students in her grade, she plays the piano beautifully and she works part time as well! Abbie has never, ever let CF stand in her way of anything.”

So what has CF meant for Kathleen?

“I volunteer at CFQ; one of my life passions is to help spread the word about CF, with the hope of finding a cure. Abbie is the most important person to me and I’m determined to see her live a long and healthy life!” she says.

“I live each day grateful to be able to breathe easy and I know that the hurdles I face won’t be nearly as hard as what my sister will come up against later in life!”