From the lofty height of her nine years, Emmanuelle shines. She loves arts & crafts and playing with her friends, but dancing tops her list of favourite things. This year, she saw a dream come true when she was chosen to be part of a competitive jazz dance troupe. This is an especial high point for the little girl who, from the age of 18 months, was forced to fight an invisible (but real) enemy: juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

This chronic disease is with her daily, often silent but with unpleasant periods when pain flares in her joints. The condition requires regular injections, blood tests (which she dreads) and some 30 or more medical appointments each year, which interrupt her schooling, her routines and her whole childhood. It’s not easy to be nine and live with the stress of unpredictable pain and a desperate desire to be like everyone else.

But Emmanuelle doesn’t let it get her down. She has always told herself, “I can do this. Arthritis won’t stop me.” In spite of her fatigue, she dances. In spite of the needles, she smiles. And in spite of the hurdles, she pushes ahead, resilient, determined, sensitive and cheerful. She loves to spend time with her family – eating out together, movie nights, excursions. Indeed, long road trips in the family car turn into precious moments full of laughter and camaraderie, when everyone takes turns picking a song and the gang sings it at the top of their lungs.

Emmanuelle – daughter of Karine and Benoit, big sister to Raphaël – has been participating in the 24h Tremblant since she was 10 months old. She has always been familiar with this cause, but it was she who, with all her wisdom, asked to become an ambassador. To show that even in the body of a young girl her age, there can be immense strength. To inspire, quite simply!

She dreams of the day when a cure is found to banish this disease completely. Until then, Emmanuelle lives her life fully, with heart and the music that makes her sing and dance.