Last summer, Manda woke up from surgery with a brain injury that makes even the simplest tasks - like getting dressed or catching the bus - difficult to complete. The diagnosis: apraxia, a neurological condition that disrupts the brain's ability to plan and carry out movements.

This was on top of an already staggering set of challenges. Manda lives with two rare diseases (and the many secondary conditions they create), has undergone nearly two dozen surgeries, and frequently faces bowel obstructions and kidney infections. Even before the brain injury, her daily life involved navigating complex medical routines and frequent medical visits.

And yet, despite it all, Manda has done extraordinary things.

Last year, she completed her PhD at the University of Victoria, researching the dangers of standardizing what “appropriate care” looks like in medicine. It’s a topic she credits with saving her life, and now she’s working to ensure others receive the care they deserve. She’s devoted to improving healthcare in BC, using her lived experience and hard-won expertise to help others survive a system that too often fails the most vulnerable.

But Manda’s health is precarious, and the demands on her are immense. Although she works full-time, her energy is limited, and her finances are stretched thin, not only by medical expenses, but by the limitations imposed by the very institutional supports meant to help her. Categories used for assessing the kinds of support needed tend to be limited and exclusionary: Manda is both severely disabled and an incredibly capable professional, but existing policy does not recognize that a person can be both at once, and as such, make life for such a person nearly impossible.

Apraxia makes daily life unpredictable. Sometimes she can’t get off the bus, simply because her body won’t respond in time to ring the bell. She’s been forced to ride the full circuit back around, not because she’s disoriented, but because her brain won’t let her move. It’s not just exhausting. It’s demoralizing.

Yet she still takes the bus to appointments, because taxis are too expensive. She skips out on new therapies that could support her recovery because they’re not covered. She postpones surgical procedures because she needs to ensure she has a place to live after she leaves the hospital - which is anything but guaranteed given the institutional constraints that make it nearly impossible for her to continue residing in assisted living.

She sacrifices rest, recovery, and rehabilitation to keep showing up every day.

I’ve never seen someone work as hard as Manda or give as much as she does. But

she’s giving more than she has to give. And she needs help.

Manda needs fewer hours on the bus and more time in neurocognitive therapy. She needs to preserve her limited energy for the work only she can do, whether it’s writing, advocating for others, or just finding enough space to heal.

Financial stress and administrative burden shadow every decision she makes. This

fundraiser is to help buy Manda some time outside this shadow. Time to attend to her health without fear of homelessness, the ability to cover essential therapy appointments and try new treatments that are necessary but not covered by her health care plan, and have enough funds to take cab rides to more appointments and buy good food when her body allows it.

If you’re able to contribute, even a little, it can make a real difference. Because Manda’s story isn’t just one of survival. It’s a story of service, determination, and brilliance. She just needs a break from the relentless, lonely, never-ending fight to survive.

Let’s help give Manda the break she’s more than earned.