Despite Claire Wineland’s life being filled with chronic illness, she was a testament to how to live life well with purpose and gratitude. As Dr Mercola so aptly commented… it is not, to use her words, just about being happy. She at her young age was an inspirational speaker as so graphically clear from her Youtube at the start of this article. She founded Claire’s Place Foundation when 13 to help families with children who have cystic fibrosis. CF.
Claire had this genetically inherited disease…tragically Claire Wineland died but her sense of purpose lives on! If you or your baby partner has CF or is a CF carrier, you can have a prenatal test to find out if your baby has the condition or is a carrier. Checks tissue from the placenta for birth defects and genetic conditions. Often, tragically the prenatal tests are not comprehensive enough, and frequently CF is a surprise to the parents.
Claire, who was diagnosed at birth, died recently on September 2nd 2018 from a massive stroke on the right side of her brain, following what appeared to be an otherwise successful lung transplant. She was on the operating table for some nine hours. CF is progressive and frightening as the victim suffers from a buildup and overproduction of thick sticky mucus in the lungs and other organs. Claire describes she has spent about a quarter of her life in the hospital in Cardiff! Just the daily breathing treatment is some five hours a day! After her stroke she was put into a medically induced coma from which she did not emerge…as Dr. Mercola aptly states: “The silver lining of this story is that at least she didn’t have to suffer and she passed away peacefully” Two years ago, Wineland received the 2016 World of Children Youth Award for her foundation’s support of children with CF and their families. She knew, from firsthand experience, how challenging it can be for parents when a child is hospitalized for extended periods, and her foundation’s family support program offers not only support and information about treatment and care options, but also gives out extended hospital stay grants to help families pay for basic necessities and hotel stays. This can be so frenetic for harried parents and often guilt and extreme stress are the shadows of these traumatized families. Amazingly at 19 she launched CF University which is an online resource for children with the disease. Questions such as how can I deal with mean nurses or confusing doctors and how can I make my shots hurt less! Even connecting CF families…what a girl!
Last year her TEDx lecture at Cardiff by the Sea, which is not in Wales but in Southern California somewhat North of San Diego. Her core message — prioritize fulfillment and living your purpose, no matter what is going on in your life. Frankly if we think we have troubles in our lives we can be inspired by Claire Wineland.
Claire Wineland Died But Her Sense of Purpose Lives On! She helped putting things into perspective, and hopefully will elevate our appreciation of life no matter what our circumstances. She really was a testament to how to live life well by inspiring people to love what is, to love every breath, and not to waste life but to make a life that matters. To quote her: “You can have a painful life. You can suffer; you can experience what it’s like to feel like a human being, all those messy and gross emotions, and yet you can make a life for yourself that you’re very, very proud of,” she says. “You can suffer and be OK. You can suffer and still make something.The quality of your life isn’t determined by whether you’re healthy or sick, or rich or poor. Not at all. It’s determined by what you make out of your experience as a human being, out of the embarrassing moments and the painful moments. It’s what you make and what you give from that place …It’s not about just being happy… Life is a roller coaster of crazy emotions … [but] it’s not about emotions. It’s not about how you feel second to second, it’s about what you’re making of your life, and whether you can find a deep pride in who you are, and what you’re giving. Because that’s so much more impactful, so much deeper than whether you’re happy or content or joyful. It’s OK to feel pain … there’s nothing wrong with you …I don’t care that I’m sick at all, genuinely … because that has not determined the quality of my life. I’m not trying to fix myself. My suffering has given me so much, and I have been able to make something and give something to people from it.”
Now, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Nicholas Reed who was overblown by her during the past is making a film about her life. All proceeds from the still untitled film, which is scheduled to be completed in November, will go to Claire’s Place Foundation. As he aptly puts it, she dignified those that were sick. She had a real sense of purpose in her only too short life. Having a sense of purpose as Mercola has pointed out has a positive result on longevity and I play a Youtube in conclusion that summarizes that…but tragically the exception was Claire who had a real sense of purpose. Claire Wineland Died But Her Sense of Purpose Lives On!
