Meghan Waldron, 15
Condition: Progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome)
Book: Running on the Wind
MEGHAN WALDRON is a confident, persistent and creative 16-year-old living in western Massachusetts. Her love of writing many stories and poems lead to her poetry being selected for publication in Stone Soup Magazine when she was 13 years old. Meghan is a member of her high school cross country and track teams. She competes in 5K races, the 100-meter dash and the long jump. With all that training, she helps support the work of the Progeria Research Foundation by participating in their annual 5K road race. Meghan has a rare, random genetic mutation known as Progeria which causes rapid aging of the body. There are less than 200 people living on earth with this condition, for which there is no known cure. Meghan has been participating in clinical drug trials with the Progeria Research Foundation for ten years in order to help find the cure. Meghan loves all kinds of cute, small critters. She lives with 2 gerbils, 2 birds, and a tortoise. Sometimes when responding to comments regarding her size she has been known to say: “Sure I’m small, but so are poison dart frogs!”
