What if you learned that your six-year-old was in danger of having a heart attack before her 11th birthday?

 

That's a reality Michelle and Jason Watts faced three years ago when they learned that their daughter Avery had inherited an FH gene from each of her parents. She had the rare and most severe form of FH, homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

 

Avery needed urgent medical attention to prevent her heart disease from progressing.

 

Michelle went into full mom-mode, searching for answers.  Fortunately, she found the FH Foundation. The FH Foundation helped the family to find an HoFH specialist, Dr. Sam Gidding at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.  Now Avery's parents drive her there every two weeks for apheresis treatment to filter her blood to lower her cholesterol...and to save her life.

 

They also found a supportive community of people who understand what they are going through. Today, Michelle and Jason help lead the HoFH Community, an FH Foundation program that addresses the specific needs of those with homozygous FH.

 

And now the entire Watts family , along with many others, have joined the Race for FH  to help raise funds for the FH Foundation.

 

The Watts family is hoping for a cure for Avery's HoFH so she can be free of the difficult aphaeresis treatments. Your gift to the Race for FH today can help make sure that kids like Avery are diagnosed early so they can get the care they need.

 

If you give today, you can help us reach our fundraising goal of $50,000 by September 24 - FH Awareness Day. You will also help us earn a generous matching gift of $25,000. But that extra gift will only be available to us if we reach our goal.

 

Please make your donation today.  You can choose a team or individual who inspires you, or give to the FH Foundation's Race for FH general donation page.

 

Thank you so much for your generosity and your willingness to make a difference.

 

With warm regards,

 

Katherine Wilemon

Founder and CEO