Meg Rowe was diagnosed with NF as an infant. For the most part she had a pretty normal childhood, other than having a large tumor on my lower back that was extremely painful when bumped, and also one on her foot. When she was 8, she had major surgery to remove both tumors. Her parents had shielded her from the seriousness of the surgery and the fact there was a chance she would not walk again afterwards, but she did know that without the surgery she would eventually be paralyzed. The following summer, though, was when things really changed for Meg. Her local newspaper ran an article about Neurofibromatosis and used her family as the subject. The unfortunate title of this article was “Living with Elephant Man’s Disease.” For the next several years she was teased and called names like “Elephant Girl.” It was really the first time she had felt “different” because of the NF.

Meg leads a fulfilling life. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a BA in Communication Studies and minors in Theatre Arts and Liberal Arts. Meg is very active in her church where she volunteers in the Women’s Ministry and Mission’s Ministry. She has been to Nicaragua 14 times since 2003 to volunteer in an orphanage. In Meg’s words, “I pray every day that we will have a cure for NF some day. The sooner the better!” Sadly, in 2016, Meg lost her battle due to NF related cancer. She was in the midst of participating in the CTF Cupid’s Undie Run and posthumously raised over $20,000 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation.