Hope for Harley, Hope for All

Meet one of our new parent ambassadors, Bobby-Jo!

Last year, Bobby-Jo shared with us her daughter Harley’s journey with JIA, and why she was running for Team Cassie + Friends Toronto. Today, we are so happy to announce Bobby-Jo as a new parent ambassador! Bobby-Jo truly inspires all of us at Cassie + Friends and has already made such an impact on the team with her creative fundraising ideas (like a Boston Pizza Celebrity Server night and Kernels popcorn fundraiser). Want to host a fundraiser in your area? Check out our fundraising ideas page and reach out to local organizations (like Bobby-Jo!) to see if you could host something similar in your area!

Read more from Bobby-Jo below about her journey parenting a daughter with JIA, and why she chose to become a parent ambassador. We cannot wait for you to connect with her!

I’m Bobby-Jo Vervoort. Mother of one perfect little girl. I enjoy travelling and going on new adventures. I enjoy cooking, boating, campfires, and spending time with my family and friends. Being a Mom is truly something I believe I was always meant to be. Caring for Harley is the greatest honour of my life. I catch myself often looking at her and pinching myself, thinking, “You are really MINE!!”

Shortly after turning two years old, Harley began having some difficulty walking. She would cry and tell us how painful it was. We would carry her around as much as possible. Soon after, her joints started swelling, she developed ganglion cysts on her wrists and ankles, and could barely lift her own body out of bed. After four months of doctor’s visits, referrals, testing, and more, we finally received her diagnosis from her Rheumatology team at Sick Kids in December 2022. It was a relief to have an answer, but also a terrifying new reality. Harley has polyarticular JIA affecting 34 joints. Thanks to a lot of different resources, medications, and support, Harley is now four years old and lives a much more fulfilling life. She enjoys soccer, dancing, baseball, swimming, skating, and just being outdoors!

Our Nurse Practitioner at Sick Kids recommended I look into Cassie + Friends as an outlet and a resource for support. My mind was a complete blur from the shock of the initial diagnosis and trying to make sense of everything, so I didn’t look into it or really even think about it. At Harley’s next couple of appointments, her N.P. mentioned C+F to me again, as she knew how anxious and overwhelmed I was. I’m so grateful she did!

I finally Googled Cassie + Friends and signed up to receive their newsletters. Almost immediately, I received an email advertising their upcoming Zoom session called “Newly Diagnosed: The First 12 Months”. That incredible and informative Zoom session changed everything for me. The powerful and insightful messages spoken by experts, parents of children living with rheumatic diseases, and the most well-spoken youth who lives with this disease and was previously hospitalized and wheelchair-bound. After that Zoom session, I told my husband that I felt like the words of that wonderful Mother and guest speaker could’ve been my own. It hit home so deeply. I told him that maybe one day I could become a parent who could inspire and support another parent who feels the overwhelming sense of loneliness and stress that comes with diagnosis. From that night on, that was my goal. And now, that is my reason for becoming a Parent Ambassador with Cassie + Friends.

If I can help even one parent, one day, feel less alone and understood, then this will all be worth it. I feel such a passion to be an active part of the C+F community, not only because of the support they offer my daughter but also for the support and community that they offer my husband and me. At a time when we felt so helpless, not being able to take away our daughter’s horrible pain, Cassie + Friends gave us optimism for a pain-free future for our girl and a cure for this horrible disease.