Brian White is a Burke resident who is fighting Pompe Disease, a rare muscle disease. He is this week's People Profile.
Years in the community:
Twenty — I moved to Northern Virginia after graduating from William & Mary in 1985.
Family:
My wife, Sarah, and I have two sons, Timothy, 10, and Christopher, 8.
Education:
I have a bachelor of arts degree in history from William & Mary.
Current job:
I work as the senior regulatory representative for Columbia Gas Transmission, an interstate natural gas pipeline.
Achievements:
I married a wonderful woman and am raising a loving family, and have a successful career in a technical field despite my liberal arts major. I've been able to carry on my life fairly normally despite the onset of Pompe Disease, a rare severe muscle disease that has significantly impacted me over the last four years. The disease has drastically reduced my respiratory capacity and also significantly weakened my muscle strength.
Activities/interests/hobbies:
Playing sports with my kids, listening to my records (yes, records!!), and reading the hundreds of books we have that I've put off reading over the years.
Favorite local restaurants:
Spartans in Burke and Hard Times Cafe in Springfield.
Community concerns:
Traffic. In my opinion, there are only two ways to solve it — a moratorium on new housing construction and having more people work out of their house. I wholeheartedly support both.
What brought you here?
The area has so much to offer, both economically as well as culturally. Although I moved here as a single 21-year old, I think it's a great place to live and raise a family, and my wife and I plan to be here at least until the kids are in college.
Community hidden treasure:
We love going to Huntley Meadows Park. I'm not sure how many people know about it, but it's a wonderful place to walk around and look at nature in a preserved state. We always see frogs and snakes and a variety of birds and there are nice trails to walk on.
Personal goals:
My main goal is to attempt to provide a stable, loving home that will allow my kids to grow up to be good people. In this day and age of excessive media stimulation and with all the wealth in the area it can be hard to instill in children the value of a dollar as well as having them appreciate the things that they have. Unfortunately, my life has been interrupted by the onset of Pompe Disease. I am lucky in that there is a company out there that is working on a treatment. I hope to start clinical trials for the treatment this December. While this will be extremely time consuming (two full days of examinations and infusions plus a day of testing per month) the treatment holds the promise that I can regain some of the strength that I have lost and be able to do some of the things that I love to do and either can not do now or cannot do without a significant amount of discomfort. And to have the Eagles win the Super Bowl.
Do you know someone who should be featured in the Connection's People Profile? Send your nominations to Jon Whiten at jwhiten@connectionnewspapers.com or call 703-917-6422.