"My mom was diagnosed with IBD when she was 12 years old, like around the same time as me, so she was more or less just expecting it for me," Elchitz said.Elchitz says IBD is a hidden disease that no one knows about unless they've gone through it, but that it has serious side effects he has to deal with.
"What we really hope is for young people in particular who are living with a chronic disease that is very disruptive to your daily life, that they have one less thing to worry about," Kilbertus said. The bursary is granted to post-secondary students who share a personal connection to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .
Jacob says the bursary will help with her tuition because she's taken out a lot of student loans throughout her undergrad studies.