My Brother's Courage: Living with Hemophilia

The Strength to Live Beyond the Obstacles of Life

The hospital was our second home.  It was another day, another long day of a visit to the emergency room for my younger brother’s treatment of Factor VIII, the clotting factor missing from his blood that disabled the bleeding from stopping. It was just another day. The sun was shining, his classmates were playing at recess when he got a nosebleed. All kids get nosebleeds, there’s no drama about it. But for him to get one, the playground got to take part in the most exciting event of the day; the ambulance, the paramedics working frantically to stop the blood, but with my brother, relaxed and enjoying his newfound popularity.

He’s a strong one, my brother. He has endured bleed after bleed, injection after injection with the courage of a man well beyond his years. His smile behind the pain is no facade; it’s a real one, one that will be imprinted in my memory forever. It’s a brave one, one that shows no request for pity but only of acceptance.  He endured the  limitations of his joints during high school, preventing him from playing basketball.  Contact sports are out of the question for most severe hemophiliacs, as the threat of a bleed outdoes the need to play. But he braved on, finding solace in hobbies, friends, and family.

Whenever I am down, frustrated with the stresses of my life, setback in any way, I think of him. I recall his ability to stand up, shrug his shoulders, and accept that it’s just another day, probably just another bleed to deal with. That’s strength; that is an approach to life that only a few of us can muster the courage to embrace, every single day.

The impact hemophilia can take on not only the hemophiliac, but family and friends, creates an often tumultuous life journey. It is an acceptance of a condition that may lead to death, may lead to disability, or severely discourage the hemophiliac mentally. It is also acceptance of a condition that might just beat all odds; a condition that can bond and create remarkable strength amongst loved ones, and an appreciation for life in its most beautiful and fragile state.