Laura and Joe Bonnell diagnosed Molly (their first born) with cystic fibrosis thanks to a Public Service Announcement (PSA) they saw on Fox 2 News more than 30 years ago. It was called the Kiss your baby campaign that featured news anchor Sherry Margolis. The PSA mentioned that if your child tasted salty when you kissed them, they might have cystic fibrosis. So when Laura and Joe were trying to figure out why Molly was always hungry, shook when she ate, had a distended stomach and tasted salty when they kissed her, (along with many other CF symptoms), they remembered the PSA. As far as Laura is aware, there has not been a PSA on TV since the PSA Sherry did years ago, and Laura thought it was time. In the past WWJ Newsradio 950 has aired PSA’s, but nothing in decades on TV. The hope is that people will share these PSA’s and raise awareness and how people are diagnosed. CF is a rare disease with 40,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed, but people of color are underdiagnosed. There are 10 million people who carry the CF gene, so it’s important to know if you’re a carrier. Thanks to Cesar Hernandez for doing the PSA for the Bonnell Foundation (of which he is a Board member). Thanks to Robin Schwarz, (and her team) for donating their time on this project we could not have done it without you.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that causes chronic and fatal lung infections, interferes with digestion and every organ. People with CF often have CF related diabetes too. There is no cure, but new medications help about 90 percent of the community. New drugs are correcting the underlying condition of the disease. Again, this is not a cure and people with CF are still getting sick, but life for people with CF in general, is improving. Much research is being done to get medications for the final 10 percent of the CF community. Science and innovation is key. Much work to be done: still.