TEDxLaJolla - Claire Wineland - It's Just a Disease
261,326
Published 2011-10-13
This is not, however, what characterizes her. Claire is a singer, an artist, a composer, and a natural-born comedian. She radiates with a warmth and wisdom beyond her years. She has been called a "little Buddha" a "bridge among people", and a "true old soul." She is precious to anyone who has met her, especially to her mother, Melissa, and her father, John.
On April 13, 2010 after a relatively routine surgery, Claire became septic and within 24 hours, was in complete lung failure. Her parents were given the option of watching Claire die or putting her on a dangerous oscillator vent, which no child with CF has ever come off of. Her parents opted to put her on the high powered vent and into a drug induced coma so the doctors could try everything possible to reverse the damage to her lungs and her body.
What followed was a remarkable two-week journey of prayer, love and healing. The family was buoyed by an inconceivable amount of support from friends and family. While Claire lay in her coma, kept alive by the maximum amount of life support possible, her friends and family began to pray. Spiritual groups of every possible denomination worldwide were given Claire's name or in many cases her picture, round the clock vigils of sometimes 50 or more people met in the hospital cafeteria and Claire's parents and family slept by her side and in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for 17 straight days.
So many people were inspired by Claire's journey that a public Facebook page, "Claire Wineland Love, Songs and Updates" , was created to disseminate the seemingly ever changing information. Within two weeks, the fans on the page grew to over 900. Out of this grew the desire and need for a foundation.
Claire came through this harrowing event inspired, passionate, and very excited about making a difference for other children and teens by sharing her experience, strength and hope with them. She continues to suffer many setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and believes this is the key to living a fulfilling life -- despite being burdened with such a deadly disease.
Claire and her parents want other families to experience the benefit from the kind of support that they received and continue to get; hence, this is the motivation for the foundation. Claire's experiences have catapulted her into a position of being a spokesperson and an inspirational model for people living with this disease. She has documented and created videos on how to enjoy life with Cystic Fibrosis and live life to the fullest. Claire's Place Foundation is a way for Claire to give back and make meaning of what she has had to go through; the foundation is her way to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
www.clairesplacefoundation.org for more information about Claire.
All Comments (21)
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she's a better speaker at 14 than I am at 36.
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I am absolutely floored at how mature, poised, and well spoken she was at only 14. I mean... articulate, comfortable, engaging, authentic, funny, the list goes on. God bless Claire!
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Better speaker at 14 than most adults who do these talks.
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Claire is 19 now. She spoke to our company today and I was deeply touched by her message. Im so glad they are close to a cure.
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If there is a god up there,thank you so much for letting her live because she has been one of the biggest inspirations to me
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Claire needs to be a comedian. She is literally one of my favorite people in the whole world!
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You were a gift to the world. Wise beyond your years.
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"You will never truly get what you want , until you want what you have". That' how I discovered her. And I come back today she passed away and I am such in a froze state of mind. She was, is and will forever be such an influence on me for the rest of my life. How can we love someone that you've never met so much, I love her so much I am so thankful she help me so much I want the world to know that such an angel was there... I can't even put my words together She was everything she will NEVER be forgotten. Thank You for everything Claire đź’ś
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Man, I just want to hug her...life is so unfair. A beautiful human being.
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A mature, wise, and smart lady inside her tiny body. Bless your soul Claire..
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Claire is one of the only youtubers who genuinely inspires me to be a better person.
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She was perfect just perfect. She has no idea what impact she left on lives of ton. She existed for a reason, for the well fare of others. And before gaining her wings she complained the aim of her existence. More power to her parents and family. Love, XoXo
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May Claire Winland Rest In Peace
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rest in peace, beautiful soul.
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She's a beautiful young lady that is more knowledgeable than most 30 year olds. I was fortunate to be one of the many Respiratory Therapists to take care of her at Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach, California. I totally understood the reasoning behind her refusing her treatments with her vest. I've seen her father several times. I would work night shift and always come see her around 9 pm. As a teen I respected her time and we would work out what time she would be "offline" with her friends and ready to do her treatments. These treatments are no jokes. Her last treatment lasted between 30 minutes to an hour depending on how she felt. I had many conversations with her during these treatments. She is an AMAZING young woman. Just a couple years later I would find out that 3 of my 4 children were diagnosed with CF. We were already overwhelmed with our youngest child being autistic. So now we have 3 with CF, and 1 with autism. She is an inspiration and I enjoyed every conversation we ever had.
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everytime I hear her speak I can't help but cry. she's got such a beautiful inspiring soul and she's such a blessing to this earth honestly
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I have cystic fibrosis and I miss Claire so much she was such an inspiration in the CF community đź’› Rest In Peace Claire Wineland đź’›
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It is not about how long you live, it is about what you do while you are alive. She will always be alive with those who's lives she changed.
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Claire Wineland is the ultimate reason I still keep fighting and living the life with Cystic Fibrosis that I'm proud of!
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I watch this when I’m sad. Thank you for the beautiful impact you’ve had on my life. I remember in the last video you made you said you really wanted to live and experience more. So I vowed to not kill myself and to live for the people like Claire who didn’t get to live. I love you. Fly high. 💕
