Willem talked to HFA about being part of his local community, making friends and trying out new skills.
My name’s Willem. I am 20 years old and I have severe haemophilia A.
Have you been involved in any local foundation activities?
I have been to camps in my youth and more recently to some of the men’s breakfasts and Christmas parties. It’s been good to participate in the community.
What were the camps like?
The camps were great – an introduction to haemophilia, meeting other kids my age and learning from them and older people.
Camps are a good place to make friends and I still keep up with them.
What other Foundation activities are you involved in?
At the men’s breakfast we have a good social time but we also talk about new treatments, how they are progressing and hear how the new treatments are going for the people who are on them.
I have also done the Bunnings sausage sizzle events. It’s a good confidence booster for a young person to know you are capable of doing these events – a good hands-on experience to talk to people and answer their questions. It’s also a great way to educate the community so that they understand the experience of living with haemophilia today and know how to treat people with haemophilia that they meet.
I have also done the Bunnings sausage sizzle events. A good hands-on experience.
READ MORE
Check out the personal stories from other young people with bleeding disorders on:
- Factored In, the HFA youth hub
- The HFA YouTube channel
Photos supplied by Haemophilia Foundation WA and reproduced with permission.
