Kari is a mother of three children and an attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her oldest child, Kayla, was diagnosed with Type 3 VWD after she woke up with spontaneous bruising on her legs and feet at six weeks of age. As part of her daughter’s diagnosis, Kari learned that she and her husband, Chris, both had Type 1 VWD. With her diagnosis, Kari realized that she had many of the common bleeding symptoms, like easy bruising and heavy menstrual cycles. Kari gathered as much information as she could about VWD and treatment options for both Kayla and herself from her daughter’s pediatric hematologists and participated in family camps and many bleeding disorder educational events and conferences. Kari and her daughter have attended all three annual VWD Connect Foundation National Type 3/Severe VWD conferences and are active members of the Foundation. Kayla is now almost 16 and doing very well. She is a well-adjusted top student and competitive year-round swimmer who plans to swim in college. Kari looks forward to supporting patients and their families and representing their perspective on the VWD Connect Foundation Board.
Patient Representative
Board Member