Dana Walden

Name: Dana Walden 

Age: 27

Condition(s): Affected carrier of Haemophilia A,  Anaphylactic nut allergy 

Wears: Classic Stainless Steel Bracelet

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“I find my MedicAlert gives me a sense of security, like I know if I were to be unlucky enough to get hurt badly or become unconscious it’s there to let ambulance crew know what could be going on and that I could be bleeding internally.”

Haemophilia A is common in Dana's family; her father and two of her three uncles have severe haemophilia and, unfortunately, both uncles have passed away. One of Dana's three aunties is a carrier and both her children have the condition, her son having severe haemophilia and her daughter being a carrier. They also have a grandson who has severe haemophilia. 

Her dad's severe Haemophilia means that he has clotting factor levels of just 0.5%. He has suffered many bleeds over the years and poor treatment has led to him having very damaged and arthritic joints. He has restricted movement and is in pain every day, but he carries on and refuses to quit. He is on intravenous injections every other day to keep his levels high enough to stop bleeds and help him live a normal life.

Dana is an affected Haemophilia Carrier; her Haemophilia is classed as mild as her clotting factor levels can drop as low as 18% and go up to 30% at times. She also has Haemophilia B (lack of factor 9) in her family as her dad’s sister-in-law is a carrier. In addition, Dana has an anaphylactic nut allergy which is also listed on her MedicAlert ID jewellery. She has been a MedicAlert member for around 8 years now and has been nagging her dad to become a member too!

“My parents know that they have never been able to stop me doing activities that aren’t recommended, but they are happy knowing that I have information on me at all times to let others know what to do in the case of an emergency."

"My friends and boyfriend are all aware of everything and about how my MedicAlert works, which is comforting for everyone. I work at an ice rink during the winter and as a childminder; I get up to silly things with the children like climbing trees, chasing them around play areas and so on. I played softball for two years (p.s. the ball is NOT soft), I like to go rock jumping and spend a lot of time in the sea during the summer because I live on an island. I feel so much safer doing all of the above as long as I’m wearing my MedicAlert, when I’ve taken it off for scans and sports events I feel lost and vulnerable.

I’m lucky that so far I haven’t been in a situation where someone has needed to use my MedicAlert to get information. I have fallen whilst skating and had to inject myself and have had some allergic reactions, but all of these I have been able to deal with myself and explain to others what is going on, but at least I know in a worst case scenario I have my bracelet on as a back up! The new Wallet Card is fantastic too, as it can fit in my work lanyard and it stays with me all the time.”

Additional information:

The severity levels of haemophilia are determined by the level of residual/remaining clotting factor (factor 8 or factor 9) activity in the patient’s blood, which is denoted by the percentage of factor activity in the blood (or international units per ml of blood – IU/ml).

The qualified medical staff at MedicAlert reviewed Dana's medical conditions and prioritised what information is shown on her bracelet so that, in an emergency, medical professionals would know the safest and most effective course of action.

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