A Fight for Every Step

Lucia’s Fight for Every Step

​The Foundation: Farming and Fishing

​My life used to be defined by the outdoors. I loved the hard work of farming, the connection to the land, and the thrill of the catch while fishing. I was active, capable, and full of life. But in 2014, the world I knew began to shift when I contracted meningitis. It was the start of a "storm" that would never truly leave my system.

​The Invisible War (2014 – 2022)

​What began as meningitis evolved into a systemic battle. My hands, wrists, and elbows began to fail as my immune system went into overdrive. For years, I fought what was thought to be Rheumatoid Arthritis, but we now know it was the beginning of a Mixed Connective Tissue Disease with no name—a condition that causes my blood vessels to narrow and my muscles to harden. By 2022, I was in and out of emergency rooms with dangerously high blood pressure, watching my world shrink into the four walls of hospital wards.

​The Struggle for the Limb (2022 – 2024)

​The fight for my leg began with a major reconstructive foot surger...