Pleasanton Twins Nominated For RareVoices Award

Press release from EveryLife Foundation:

Esha and Arya Cyril, current residents of Pleasanton are twin siblings in their junior year attending The Quarry Lane School, Dublin. Both the sisters are among the finalists for the RareVoices Award 2020, a program of the EveryLife Foundation which honors advocates who give rare disease patients a voice on Capitol Hill and in State Government.

The awards will be presented during the RareVoice Awards along with 2020 RareVoice Abbey Award recipients for Congressional Leadership: Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-3). Nominees for each category were submitted by the rare disease community. Twenty-four finalists were selected, ranging in age from 15 to 78, hailing from nine different states and representing more than 11 rare diseases.

A few years ago, the girls started volunteering at a free health advisory clinic at a local community center for patients with limited or no health insurance. Since then, they have been extremely passionate about health policy. Motivated by family experiences with liver-related diseases both the sisters advocate for JoinJade, Asian Liver Center at Stanford University for hepatitis and liver-related diseases. Both the girls continue to find ways to support the rare disease community in any way they can and use their voices to make change.

The twins feel that supporting the rare disease community and hearing their powerful narratives is a step forward. Nominees for each category were submitted by the rare disease community. Twenty-four finalists were selected, ranging in age from 15 to 78, hailing from nine different states and representing more than 11 rare diseases.

The girls play competitive Racquetball and are a part of Team USA 2020, International Racquetball Federation. They were recently awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for their contribution towards community service. They were also recognized and awarded by the Mayor of Estación Central, Santiago, Chile this past summer for their non-profit organization which aims to remove language barriers by connecting the youth through culture, social issues, and the United Nations Sustainable Goals.

The RareVoice Awards, a celebration, now in its ninth year, is hosted by the Rare Disease Legislative Advocates and the Rarevoice Awards will be livestreamed on December 10th from 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. ET at RareVoice Awards. We request everyone to register for the virtual event to support the organization.

This press release was produced by EveryLife Foundation. The views expressed here are the author's own.