Two best friends, Caitlyn and Angie were diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency disease (PI). The rare disease is essentially a group of more than 350 chronic diseases where part of the immune system is missing or does not function properly.
The two girls bonded over their condition, grew very close as a result. Caitlyn and Angie however, lived in different provinces in South Africa and had never met.
South Africa’s low-cost airline, Kulula, found out about the pair’s friendship and sponsored a flight for Angie to fly to Cape Town to meet her best friend in real life.
Rare Diseases South Africa founded by Kelly du Plessis after her son was diagnosed with a rare disease. She realized that there was a lack of support and awareness on rare diseases in South Africa and created the organisation. The mission is, “To advocate and facilitate engagement between those with the ability to prevent, intervene, treat and provide supportive care for those impacted by rare diseases.”
Rare Diseases South Africa recently shared the story of Caitlyn and Angie on their Facebook page.