The 2022 Community Choice: Outstanding Community Advocate Award goes to Sydney Severance @operationupright!⁠ ⁠ This special award is voted for by the community, for the community. It honors individuals who have made a difference in the lives of community members through advocacy and supporting people on their journeys with EDS and HSD. ⁠ ⁠ Sydney Severance is 18 years old and has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and has been really struggling with her health lately. Sydney fell ill in March 2020. Endless doctors appointments and tests later, Dr. Patel of @MUSChealth suspected Sydney had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and craniocervical instability (EDS/CCI). But he couldn’t confirm without an upright MRI scan. ⁠ ⁠ The family had to transport Sydney with great care to Greenville, South Carolina (the closest upright MRI location) to make this happen. Just as Dr. Patel suspected, the scan confirmed Sydney’s diagnosis of hypermobile EDS and CCI in November 2020. Dr. Patel performed a skull-to-C3 fusion on January 14th, 2021 in Charleston. Just days after the surgery, Sydney told her parents she wanted to fundraise $1.2 million for MUSC to purchase the machine that forever changed her life - very few currently exist in the US. ⁠ ⁠ Operation Upright came to life because Sydney is adamant about giving fellow EDS and CCI patients a smoother journey than what she experienced. "Hoping for accurate diagnoses is one thing. Giving doctors the means to find them is another." ~ Sydney⁠ ⁠ Dr. Russell Norris @muschealth quotes: "while her challenges with the disease are unfortunately not uncommon for many of these patients, her level of compassion, outreach, and advocacy are well beyond any patient I have met. Sydney makes people better, provides hope and is an inspiration for all of us. We are all the better because of the global impact that she is making."⁠ ⁠ Sydney, we wish you our heartfelt congratulations. ⁠ ⁠ [Image descriptions: Sydney virtually accepting her award via Zoom. Sydney smiling sitting in her wheelchair. Sydney with Dr. Patel in hospital.]