Patrick de Smet: Why change a winning team?

F orty years living with haemophilia on two different continents has left Patrick de Smet with a unique perspective on his condition. He has experienced haemophilia the hard way but has no hard feelings. While he accepts that haemophilia care has advanced tremendously in recent years, he is happy with the treatments he knows, and with his decision that “with me the haemophilia stops.” Today, Patrick de Smet is well known as the (head) coordinator of the Belgian Haemophilia Society (Hemofilievereniging / Association de l’Hémophilie). He spends his time campaigning to raise awareness of the condition he has lived with for over four decades, explaining what it is like to live with haemophilia, how it changes over time, and why it is something to be managed rather than to be afraid of.