Bijal Trivedi is a journalist and an author. She spent 8 years writing the book, Breath from Salt. It’s an in-depth look at how parents with CF children banded together to start what is now the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Trivedi weaves a beautiful story of all the players, from CFF President Bob Beall, to Joe and Kathy O’Donnell’s involvement and all the other parents intertwined along the way. The scientists contributions are worked into the book beautifully. You’ll learn things about CF you may have never heard before, and you’ll be cheering on those scientists.
Trivedi recently became Senior Science Editor at National Geographic. When Trivedi began Breath of Salt in 2012 she was familiar with a drug that would only help 4 percent of the CF population, she realized how quickly science was moving in the field of CF, and decided to write about the history of CF, and all who had a role in getting us to where we are today (2022). No one in Trivedi’s family has CF, but we certainly consider her family. Her book teaches us not only about the beginning of the CF Foundation, but also about the parents who built it. Our stories (Laura Bonnell and Beth Vanstone) are very similar in many respects. This podcast features Laura Bonnell and Beth Vanstone (two CF mom’s). Vanstone lives in Canada where she has worked tirelessly to make CF drugs more accessible not only to her daughter Madi, but to other CF families. She is a huge advocate and friend of The Bonnell Foundation.
Bijal’s book: Breath from Salt: https://www.amazon.com/Breath-Salt-Patients-Families-Medicine/dp/1948836378
For more information on The Bonnell Foundation find us at https://thebonnellfoundation.org/
Vertex Pharma – the science of possibility. https://www.vrtx.com
Sponsored by https://www.fordfund.org/globalcaringmonth
The original music in this podcast is performed by Kevin Allan, who happens to have Cystic Fibrosis. You can find him on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/KevinAllanMusic
This podcast was produced by JAG in Detroit Podcasts. https://jagindetroit.com/