Learning to Live with Purpose

Claire Wineland has defied the odds. At 20, she’s lived more than twice as long as doctors told her parents she would. Born with cystic fibrosis, Wineland has spent about a quarter of her life in hospitals, and her daily health regimen is a demanding routine of treatments, medications, and oxygen. Despite her health problems, though, she has learned to find purpose by helping others. At the age of 13 she founded Claire’s Place Foundation to provide support to CF patients and their families. She’s also touched many others with her YouTube videos and public talks where she speaks about her illness and dying, with charm, humor, and a life-affirming wisdom. We spoke to Wineland, a 2017 Global Genes’ Champion of Hope awardee, about her life with cystic fibrosis, what its taught her about living, and how finding a greater purpose than treating her own illness transformed her life.