Meet Shawna, Josh, and Kayla VanderZanden of Oregon who have joined Unite For The Cure to help raise funds for Dr. Keirstead’s SMA stem cell program at UC Irvine.
Why are the VanderZandens uniting for the cure?
After a year and a half of trying to conceive a child, Josh and Shawna were devastated that it may not ever happen for them. They felt like it wasn’t fair that their dream of having a family was now going to be turned into costly fertility treatments and painful procedures. They made an appointment with a fertility specialist and as soon as they made it they found out they were pregnant. The VanderZandens welcomed their daughter Kayla Grace into the world on April 21, 2008; they couldn’t have been happier! Unfortunately, on November 10, 2008 Kayla was diagnosed with SMA. They were told Kayla’s condition would only progress and would result in a very short life — at 7 months old, based on SMA statistics, Kayla’s life was almost half over. Over the last nine months the VanderZandens have learned to hold onto hope that someday a cure will be found and their daughter will have a chance at the life they thought she would have — filled with ballet classes, soccer practice, etc. The VanderZandens have joined Unite For The Cure to give that hope to all families impacted by SMA.
