How One Advocate Went from Losing His Hearing to Being Heard

Matt Hay was a sophomore in college when he began to have problems with his hearing. He soon learned his hearing loss was caused by tumors on his nerves and was diagnosed with the rare condition neurofibromatosis. As a result of the condition, which can cause tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, Hay has had to undergo 20 surgeries, including one to remove a tumor that blocked 80 percent of his spinal fluid and caused him to lose the ability to walk for a time. His diagnosis started him on not only a personal journey to fight his condition, but on a professional one as well as he became a patient advocate. We spoke to Hay, U.S. Director of advocacy for NF1 at Alexion, about his own journey as someone living with a rare disease, neurofibromatosis, and how his experience led him to become a patient advocate within the biopharmaceutical industry.