Claudia Goodell
Albuquerque, N.M.

In March 1985, Claudia Goodell was healthy.

And then she wasn’t.

CFS felled her. A viral onset that year slid into a gradual progression into illness.

And that illness led her to the CFIDS Association when she was finally diagnosed 15 years later. “I contacted the Association in hopes of support in finding a physician and to learn about current research,” Goodell says.

The busy single mom, working her way through a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in communications disorders, specializing in audiology, also took up the sport of mountain biking with her now-husband.

Today, on full disability benefits for nearly eight years, Goodell doesn’t consider herself “well” by any means, but she does continue to ride in a limited fashion. And she’s combined her passions for both biking and the Association into “24 Hours In The Enchanted Forest,” an overnight “race to solve CFS.” The second annual event was held this past June, billed as a means for participants and supporters to fund research into the illness and create further awareness.

Goodell is a fervent supporter of research herself, as her gift to THECatalystFUND demonstrates. “It’s my opinion that solid research is the key to finding answers about this illness. Funding those researchers directly is probably the best approach,” she says. “I like the unbiased approach by the CFIDS Association in funding and supporting research – supporting and reporting, rather than conducting.”

She hopes THECatalystFUND will encourage other patients and supporters to find creative ways to perform their own grassroots fundraising efforts.

“It’s somewhat selfish,” Goodell says of becoming a Catalyst, “because I would like to be well and I understand that funding research is the key to my wellness. As a patient, it’s empowering to me to feel like I’m participating in and supporting the research.”

Click here to learn more about THECatalystFUND and to read other Catalyst profiles.

Your gift to THECatalystFUND will help speed discovery and transform the way that CFS research is conducted. Online gifts can be made through our secure donations page at: http://bit.ly/2011fund. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law.