She's one of our 144,642 reasons to give.

Meet Chloe, a busy sixteen-year-old who shares a rare genetic condition with her brother and sister. They were all born with Gitelman syndrome, in which the kidneys are unable to hold on to potassium and other electrolytes. It can cause severe muscle weakness and dangerous heart arrhythmias. It requires lifelong monitoring and treatment, but that isn’t slowing down Chloe. In addition to dancing six days a week, she mentors younger ballerinas and is active in her school and church. Read more about Chloe’s maturity and daily perseverance as she copes with a rare, chronic illness.

Meet Alexa, a talented athlete who isn’t letting a rare chronic autoimmune disorder slow her down. But that wasn’t always the case. She and her parents struggled to find a treatment that could successfully manage symptoms like double vision and fatigue so severe that it impaired her ability to talk or breathe. After a seizure brought her to Connecticut Children’s, she finally found effective—and life-changing—treatment. Read Alexa’s story to discover how she and her family are winning the fight against myasthenia gravis.