Celebrating 30 years of Fabry Australia with ‘30 Fabry Stories, from the Australian Fabry Community.’
Alec Campbell is a Year 6 school student in rural Victoria. He was diagnosed with Fabry disease at birth.
“I talk to my mum about Fabry, about what causes it. She knows a lot about it.”
I’ve always known I had Fabry. My mum has Fabry and one of my brothers has it also.
I don’t really have a lot of symptoms. I notice when I run or play sport my feet hurt. And I get stomach cramps and pains.
I talk to my mum about Fabry, about what causes it. She knows a lot about it. I know it’s caused by a fault in your cells.
But I don’t think about my Fabry much. If my feet hurt or my stomach I just sit down and wait until it goes away.
I don’t play a lot of sport. But I like dodgeball. I mostly like reading and drawing. My favourite book is Discovery Atlas. I learn a lot of interesting things like how fruit fly genes are actually quite similar to humans.
Someone who had Fabry has written a book about the disease to explain it to children. It’s called Faber the Dragon and when it was made into an animated film I was asked to be the voice of the narrator.
I don’t really think about what my Fabry means for the future. I can always get help from my mum and my brother.