The Britnell Family: Helen, Sullivan, Allie and Rich, will be participating in Laps for CF April 12. Sullivan, 6, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis two years ago. Laps for CF, created by 15-year-old Emily Schreiber, has raised over $1 million for research. Julie Clark/ ASSOC
Fifteen-year-old Emily Schreiber, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 9, will swim laps at Auburn University’s Martin Aquatics Center April 12 to raise money for cystic fibrosis research as part of her Laps for CF fundraiser.
In addition to Emily swimming the final four of her 100 laps, the event will feature exhibitions by the Auburn swimming and diving teams, a live band, a raffle, children’s activities and food.
The event will begin at 11:30 a.m., and admission is a $5 donation, which includes lunch.
Many organizations on Auburn’s campus, including several Greek organizations, will participate in the event.
Emily started Laps for CF in 2003, only six weeks after she was diagnosed with CF, a frequently fatal genetic disease of the mucus glands that causes complications in many of the body’s organs, especially the lungs and the pancreas.
Emily’s fundraising idea was to have individuals pledge money for each lap she could swim.
“I thought, ‘Well, I really like to swim, and it’s fun, so I’ll just do a swimming fundraiser,’” Emily said. “Now it’s become an annual thing, which is just awesome.”
Emily’s organization has raised over $1 million for CF research since its start six years ago.
“It’s really just mind boggling,” Emily said. “I never thought it would be all this. I thought we would just do the fundraiser one time, and now we’ve raised over a million dollars.”
Laps for CF also supports Auburn families who have children with CF. One such family is the Britnells, whose 6-year-old son Sullivan was diagnosed with CF two years ago.
“He had digestive problems since birth,” said Helen Britnell, Sullivan’s mother. “We just didn’t know what it was. He started losing weight, and we knew something was wrong.”
Sullivan’s family took him to East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika to have some tests run.
When Helen got a call at work from Sullivan’s doctor asking if he could meet with them in person, she said she knew her son had tested positive for CF.
“I remember standing out in the hallway and screaming,” Helen said. “I cried forever, but I was glad to finally know what was wrong. Now we just take it one day at a time.”
After Sullivan’s diagnosis, Helen quit her job as a financial analyst in Valley to stay at home with Sullivan and his 2-year-old sister Allie, who does not have CF, but is a carrier.
Helen said Sullivan didn’t understand what having CF meant at first, but he has been brave and, with the help of UAB’s CF Center, has learned how to cope with his disease.
“For the most part, he’s never complained about taking his medicine or doing his vest treatments,” Helen said. “He just knows it’s part of life. He understands that everybody has their things they have to deal with.”
Sullivan has even been working on taking his medicine.
“I take pills and vitamins, and now I can swallow them,” Sullivan said. “I can swallow three at a time.”
Sullivan also has to do breathing treatments before and after school by wearing a vest for 30 minutes that shakes him and loosens the mucus in his lungs so he can cough it out.
Helen said before Sullivan got his $13,000 vest, which was almost completely covered by his father Rich’s insurance, she and Rich, an industrial design professor at Auburn, had to beat on Sullivan’s chest to loosen the mucus.
Sullivan said he likes the vest much better.
“You can’t tell anything’s wrong with him by just looking at him,” Helen said. “People look at him and go, ‘Oh, he’s healthy.’ They don’t know all the stuff he has to put up with.”
Both Helen and Rich said money raised by Laps for CF has helped the CF Center at UAB and the CF Foundation make improvements in their research and treatments.
“It’s something they can really cure,” Rich said.
Emily believes the cure for CF will be discovered soon.
“The CF Foundation is doing a great job coming up with better treatments,” Emily said. “I think in the next 20 years there will be a cure. I’m hopeful anyway.”
And the money Emily raises for research through Laps for CF only brings her hope closer to reality.
“Even though it’s kind of shocking when you get diagnosed, it all works out,” Emily said. “You just have to do all you can to make a difference.”
