My story

In 2019, while I was in middle school, my parents brought me and visited family back in China. One day, my dad said to me: “Today we will visit a special relative. She’s my aunt and so is your grand-aunt. I’m very close to her when I was little and she’s special to me. Unfortunately, she got diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at a very young age. So right now she has some movement issues. Don’t feel alarmed if you see her hand shaking. Treat her like a normal person and with respect.” Back then, I didn't know what Parkinson’s Disease was, I just simply replied yes and didn’t put any thought on this. By the time I saw her, she was in her wheelchair. I found that her speech was a bit blurred and her movement was slow but I didn’t see her hand shaking a lot. I asked my dad and he told me: “The hand shaking is called a tremor. She is on medication, while it’s in effect, the tremor is suppressed”. I said hello and went on playing with other similar aged relatives.

After my visit, I returned to school and soon forgot about it. But on a Thanksgiving weekend, I saw the whole “Back to Future” trilogy. I was so intrigued by the character Marty McFly and searched up on his actor and suddenly I saw Michael J Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 29. Something sparked that reminded me I heard this before and I shouted to my dad: “Is this the same disease your aunt got?” My dad sighed: “Yes, they have the same disease. Only thing is your grand aunt got her diagnose around 40, which is still considered pretty young. I didn’t know someone can get diagnosed in their 20s”. I went on and searched up on parkinson’s disease, and found out that it’s a neurodegenerative disorder and it only progresses and gets worse and currently there is no cure.

In 2022, we had another family trip, as usual we visited my grand-aunt. This time, her disease had gotten worse and now she’s having problems swallowing and each meal taking a long time to finish. The muscle rigidness even affected her eyelids and it’s hard to keep her eyes open. But she's now around her 70s and has been living with parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years. You’ve got to admire how fearlessly fighting against this disease and how tenacious she is.

We later talked more about this, and then I found out my grandma has 6 sibling, actually 3 of then all had symptoms. Just 2 other siblings had very mild symptoms and it appeared only on advanced age in their 70s or 80s, none as bad as or as early as my grand-aunt. Also, my grandma’s dad also had mild PD symptoms but that’s discovered at old age and he died from heart related disease. Now this is not some distant disease that’s irrelevant to me, I might very well have PD’s gene in my blood. it took a personal connection for me to truly comprehend the impact of this condition. My grand aunt's journey became a poignant reminder of the urgent need for advancements in research and treatment options. Witnessing her strength in the face of adversity motivated me to take action and make a difference. I was learning HTML, CSS and web design at the time, and I’m very interested in search engine optimization. I decided to create a website dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease. The platform aims to serve as a hub for information, resources, and community support. By sharing my grand aunt's story and leveraging the influence of figures like Michael J. Fox, I hope to inspire others to join the cause.