“I fell when I was a baby, and my knee started to swell. After the tests confirmed that I had hemophilia A, my family looked back on our history and discovered that I had inherited it from a couple generations earlier.

My early life is hard to describe, in part because I was raised by several abusive caretakers. I was put into foster care, then removed at age 10 and adopted by my friend Jon’s family. I had finally found a safe place where my hemophilia was treated. Throughout adolescence and high school, I was prescribed prophy treatment.

When I was 18, I moved out so I could attend college. Unfortunately, my parents’ insurance would no longer cover me, which led to gaps in my hemophilia treatment. When I had access to treatment after college, I used a factor replacement therapy. At one point, however, my doctor told me about a factor mimetic medication I could take that would reduce the number of times I had to infuse, but I continued to have breakthrough bleeds, which required factor for treatment.

Eventually, I connected with the hemophilia community. That series of conversations changed my life. All this time, I’d just been accepting what the doctors were saying instead of being a partner in my own healthcare. At my next annual comprehensive physical, I said, ‘This isn’t working. I want to try something else.’

When my doctor talked about possible treatments, he mentioned ALTUVIIIO, and it sounded promising to me. I was really excited with the once-a-week dosing since I’m a truck driver and I load and unload my truck a couple days a week.

I started ALTUVIIIO in February 2024. Since then, I haven’t had any breakthrough bleeds. I also have less pain in the target joint in my ankle. With my weekly infusion schedule, I’m able to do all my active work on the weekends, like repairing and restoring cars with my daughter, painting the house, and fixing anything that has been broken while I was on the road. The way I’ve been feeling on my treatment has helped me keep consistent with my infusions.

Ultimately, having a family who loved me was a huge factor in learning how to take care of myself. The hemophilia community has also become a wonderful family where I can share what I’m going through and give back when someone else is going through struggles.”

Brad is a promotional speaker compensated by Sanofi. Peer stories based on data collected March 2026.

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