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Image: Despite having lived with a rare and severe form of von Willebrand disease for nearly eight decades, Margaret Monk (pictured, centre, with her husband and daughter) continues to enjoy an active life – and believes that being active helps her stay positiveImage: As a child, Margaret was sometimes unable to go to school and had lengthy stays in hospital due to bleeds. However, she still managed to be as active as circumstances would allow, playing netball, riding a bike and learning to swimImage: Margaret (pictured with her husband, Frank) has not always found her experiences with hospitals to be straightforward. However, she has nothing but praise for the care she has received from her haemophilia centre, and believes that staying in close contact with them is important in ensuring that issues can be dealt with effectively when they arise