Run, Sickboy, Run – a.k.a. Ronnie & Mandi Sharpe

Here is a dude who is secure in his cystic fibrosis. Ronnie was the first CF blogger – Run Sickboy Run – who Beautiful started following last year. She started so early in his writing, he was still just writing about waking up, trying to walk/run, and rinse and repeat. He’s come a long way since those early days and has literally inspired hundreds, if not thousands of CFers to take better care of themselves through his transparent writing about living life with CF.

Ronnie, this Bud’s post’s for you.

There are a few things you need to know about Ronnie:

• he’s outgoing and open about his CF
• he’s pretty darn healthy because he works so hard at it
• he just got hitched to someone who, by everything I’ve read, is cut from the same cloth as my wife
• is as driven as the day is bright in Arizona, where they live

He is an incredible promoter of CF, founding Cystic Life. Oh, you’ve heard of it? Yeah, so have over 6,000 other people at this point. He’s like a rock star or something for CFers. It’s a place for CFers to meet and greet, blog, ask questions, and more. It’s like a private Facebook for CFers and their families.

Ronnie opened up the floor to Mandi a number of months ago and the conversations exploded with readers who are interested in the ever-complex CFer/non-CFer relationship jungle. CFers who find someone to be with for the rest of their (long) lives are among the most blessed and constantly consciously appreciative companions I think God created and I believe their partners to be the most understanding and giving. We have been looking into their lives for months – then he popped the question – she said “yes” – and now they’re married. We got to watch it all happen. I’m grinning as I write this.

Along with Beautiful convincing me to take better care of myself because my stats can go up with exercise and gaining weight, it was Run Sickboy Run that put some proof in that pudding. He posted his pulmonary numbers. He wanted accountability for his exercise. He “showed me the money,” to say. The last piece of the puzzle to get me turned around was reading the study that I put in this article: Normal Weight Affects Lung Function in Cystic Fibrosis.

After reading a well-managed blog that was just about CF, I knew I could do it, too. I was going for a professional writing degree and had been blogging since 2004, after all… I felt like I finally had both the credentials and the attitude of transparency to blog almost entirely about CF. I wasn’t sure he could keep up with me after I started, but he has! We rarely overlap topics, too, because the things to discuss, ponder, and celebrate are so widely varied. We check out Run Sickboy Run every day to see what they are up to, don’t you?

Personally, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these two Sharpe people. I know it will be great, so start following their lives if you aren’t already.