Sisters embark on 65 days of good deeds for CF

Nikki Reynolds-Wilson and Kristie Purton will start a new 65 days of good deeds this Saturday. Photo / George Novak

Last year, Kristie Purton and Nikki Reynolds-Wilson embarked on more than two months of good deeds to help raise awareness of cystic fibrosis and this Saturday they will be doing it again.

The two women were born with cystic fibrosis, an incurable lung disease.

Mrs Purton's lung function is at about 30 per cent while her younger sister's lungs function anywhere between 20 and 30 per cent. Mrs Reynolds-Wilson was on the waiting list for a lung transplant, while Mrs Purton was being assessed to go on a waiting list.

Mrs Purton said their 65 days of deeds was a nod to the way younger children pronounce the condition - "65 roses".

She said they got such a great response from the public they decided to do it again.
"It was amazing. We thought why don't we do the 65 days again and get even more awareness out there for CF."

Unlike other diseases, not many people knew what cystic fibrosis was, she said.
"If you tell people we have cystic fibrosis, they have no idea what it means.

"If we are in the street coughing, they think we are full of bugs and keep away.

"So we thought if people actually knew what it is, like how everybody knows what cancer is, we wouldn't get those looks."

Mrs Purton said she had been given nasty comments in public places, like the supermarket, from her coughing from the disease.

"People that know you, they understand it. But people who don't, they don't understand.

"You look well but they don't understand how sick you are. It's important that people to understand what we have, and what we are feeling."

The 32-year-old said instead of spending money on buying gifts and treats for people like they did last year, they wanted to put their time and energy into deeds like helping people in some ways and volunteering for organisations.

Last year, they had lots of feedback from parents of children who had been diagnosed with the disease. "For them to see see how far we had come helped them cope and understand with their own children."

Cystic fibrosis:

* Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening genetic disorder affecting New Zealand children. It is an inherited disorder and is non-contagious. CF affects a number of organs in the body (especially the lungs and pancreas) by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus. In the lungs this can cause shortness of breath, a chronic cough and repeated chest infections. At present there is no cure for CF.