“He had such resilience and strength. Dad couldn’t hold the hammer, so he created a makeshift grip for his hammer in order for it to fit in his stiff hand by wrapping a towel around it and then wrapping duct tape around that. I remember him trying to open his pill box saying to himself ‘Come on Sam, come on.’ I saw him fight so hard and it’s the little things that would get me. They still sting.”
Amanda Cobb’s father put up a hard fight against scleroderma. He never quit, never gave up. This Father’s Day, Amanda is using her voice to bring a purpose to her father, Sam’s, fight.
“I remember some of his earliest symptoms included a severe itching sensation that he had on his skin, cold sensitivity, needing to wear gloves and socks. These symptoms eventually progressed into ulcers and sores on his hands that could not heal.”
Amanda and the rest of her family could see Sam’s anger, sadness and frustration as the disease progressed to other internal organs, but her father demonstrated great perseverance throughout all his trials.
“He had such resilience and strength. Dad couldn’t hold the hammer, so he created a makeshift grip for his hammer in order for it to fit in his stiff hand by wrapping a towel around it and then wrapping duct tape around that. I remember him trying to open his pill box saying to himself ‘Come on Sam, come on.’ I saw him fight so hard and it’s the little things that would get me. They still sting.”
Ultimately, Sam’s heart became so engulfed with scar tissue build up that it gave out completely. But Amanda will always remember her father as a hero.
“My father is an absolute hero,” she says. “He endured more than anything anyone could ever imagine and he fought so hard. Above all, he was a champion.”
The National Scleroderma Foundation is grateful to Amanda for sharing her father’s story so that, together, we can increase awareness of scleroderma and overcome it once and for all.
“Why is awareness important?” Amanda asked. “Because it opens doors for research, funding, education, and support. The more people who know about scleroderma, the better chance people have of being properly diagnosed and treated. My dad hoped that with the advances in research and education around scleroderma, those who were newly diagnosed would have a better chance than he did to get the right treatment. Let’s carry his same hope as we look into the future for people with scleroderma.”