Alysha Loffler. For 4 years, 15 year old Alysha Loffler has not been able to hug her mum. The shear pain inflicted on her body makes it impossible to even touch her with such a gesture. She lives in constant pain day in and day out, and is borne by a fear that she could break a bone from the simplest task. She has lost count of the number of bones she has broken. She has fractured a bone from a hand shake, snapped two bones from a cartwheel, and countless breaks to her fingers and toes. Full body scans have revealed she broke her T6 (a thoracic spinal nerve), and yet she is miraculously still walking.
When Alysha is not in a cast, she appears as an everyday girl. However, this incredibly inspiring girl suffers from a rare condition known as Juvenile Idiopathic Osteoporosis, a bone density disease which puts her at risk of breaking bones ALL of the time.
In the past 10 months Alysha’s 12 year old brother, Jared, has suffered two unexplained fractures, one to his leg while simply running and one recently to his foot. The family fear that he may also suffer from the same condition.
As Arthritis & Osteoporosis WA’s ambassador, over the last two months Alysha has been actively advocating the importance to change the public’s perception of arthritis & osteoporosis being diseases of the elderly. She aims to inspire people to support a cause where ignorance and judgement often lies, with people believing all cases of these diseases are self-inflicted, due to poor diet or lack of exercise.
Alysha’s ambition is to make a difference. Apart for being an advocate for Arthritis & Osteoporosis WA she is also striving to become a medical research scientist. Seeking cures for the many rare conditions that slip through the cracks due to a lack of funding is a primary drive for her. Alysha will be featured within numerous upcoming television and print stories, where she aims to touch people with her ambition to make change happen, and she asks the public “What will you do?”
