Purple Shirts, Powerful Voices: A Student-Led Effort to Raise PH Awareness

Sometimes the challenges we face in life lead us to make a difference in the world. When we were younger, our mom was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension. This sudden change in our lives at such a young age put us in a position where we had to develop a growth mindset and focus on caring for our mom, as the way she has cared for us ever since we came into this world. Seeing her fight this battle every day when she was struggling to do everyday tasks such as walking up the stairs, braiding our hair, and even simply breathing made us realize how important it is not to take anything for granted. Nonetheless, it also made us realize the power we have as caregivers to raise awareness of this condition and to hopefully one day find a cure. It took our mother almost a year to have a diagnosis of PH, as she had to advocate for her health because she knew something was not right. We want to increase awareness so that others with PH have an earlier diagnosis and be treated as soon as possible.

That’s what inspired us to create an Instagram page about educational material on PH and to inspire others to make a difference in the world. It was through this that we initiated another idea to raise awareness, and that was through our school community. We brainstormed and came up with the idea for a Purple Shirt Day, where students were invited to wear a purple shirt in support of not only Pulmonary Hypertension, but also of other rare diseases that people fight hard to battle every day. We collaborated with our student government to make this day happen, and went through the process of creating a proposal, picking a day, choosing what we wanted to display on our booth, and simply focusing on creating awareness. But the hard work paid off, and we were so proud to see everyone who was wearing a purple shirt and showing their care. Our booth held informational pamphlets to educate more on the topic of PH, and what it’s like for people living with it. We also asked people to participate in writing down motivational quotes for those living with invisible battles, because we’re often so focused on the outside and judge people on their appearances, when really they could be battling something that’s not surface-level.

We wanted to shine a light on how positive mental health is vital, especially to those living with rare and “invisible” conditions, who are often overlooked just because they seem normal and healthy. We were amazed to see all the people who wrote such kind and encouraging messages, helping to spread light for those going through times of darkness. A huge thank you and shoutout to PHA Canada, who provided us with bracelets, pens, keychains, pamphlets, and more, that we were able to give to our booth visitors. We couldn’t have done it without you!

From this experience, we learned how important it is for us to care for one another, because no one should face this battle alone, and that there is always hope, no matter what. 

Taige Chugger, Grade 12 IB student at Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy 

Daya Chugger, Grade 10 Pre-IB student at Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy