Kim Brown, pictured here wearing a ‘Stronger than the Storm’ T-shirt, designed to help raise awareness for rare diseases. (submitted photo/Battlefords Union Hospital Foundation)

By Martin Martinson

paying it forward

Patient raises funds for BUH Foundation

Apr 21, 2020 | 4:46 PM

While many organizations have seen tough days due to the ongoing COIVID-19 pandemic, the Battlefords Union Hospital (BUH) Foundation recently received a boost from a local resident who wanted to show her appreciation for the ‘top notch care’ she received.

Kim Brown has Hereditary Angioedema Type 1 — a rare genetic condition that makes her a frequent visitor of the BUH emergency department. To honour last month’s Rare Disease Day, Brown donated $500 to the BUH Foundation, which she raised by selling shirts she designed that feature the slogan ‘Stronger than the Storm.’

To Brown, the words hold a personal, and uplifting meaning.

“I had a nurse quite a few years ago who, when I was feeling quite down about my situation, just kept telling me, ‘You’re stronger than the storm,’ and that kind of really stuck with me,” she said. “So I decided to make these shirts and raise awareness, not only for my rare disease, but other rare diseases out there as well.”

Brown said living with Hereditary Angioedema is something that affects every day of her life.

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“Basically my body is not able to produce the sticky substance that’s inside your blood that we all need to keep infection out and to keep inflammation and swelling down,” she said. “My blood is thin and it just kind of explodes from its vessels. Without plasma treatments every three days on top of it, I get life-threatening swelling which acts a lot like anaphylaxis in a way, except it’s not.”

Brown, who is originally from New Brunswick, moved to the Battlefords with her family just under four years ago. She said it was only after they came to Saskatchewan that she was diagnosed.

“I had the issues when I moved here, [but] actually, moving to Saskatchewan was quite a blessing for our family,” she said. “I was able to get the proper help and actually get to see some specialists who knew what they were seeing and how to treat it and give me a little bit more quality of life back.”

She said she is blown away by the level of support she received from those in and around the Battlefords’ community. Many are buying shirts, sharing their stories or reaching out.

“It was pretty neat to see [the response],” Brown said. “I figured family and friends would support me and help out, but the overwhelming support of this community was absolutely amazing to see. People I have never met, never talked to; and never even seen in my life were buying shirts and reaching out to me and sending me messages about some of their stories and how they’re affected by somebody in their family with a rare disease. It was really neat to be able to see that we’ve got quite a strong community here together.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1