Susan Au, Tarrant County urban planner, wife, mother and community volunteer is used to the challenges of juggling a busy life. However, one of the toughest hurdles she has faced may be her own challenge living with arthritis, a condition that has required her to undergo hip replacement surgery and painful rehabilitation. Although doctors diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis in 2004, her medical journey hasn’t swayed her determination to turn her disease into a source of motivation and inspiration to others.

While enduring treatments and lengthy recuperations, Au quickly changed her own medical issues into a positive. She began to adopt a healthier lifestyle, modify her exercise routine and become involved to help others by volunteering with the Arthritis Foundation to increase the awareness of what it is like living with arthritis.

Today, Au helps spread the message of how important maintaining physical activity can be for those with arthritis and she was chosen as a 2013 National Walk Honoree by the Arthritis Foundation. Committed to raising awareness about the disease, she is leading the charge in the Foundation’s annual Arthritis Walk, held in more than 275 communities nationwide, to raise funds for research and arthritis programs.

May is National Arthritis Month and the Arthritis Walk, the Arthritis Foundation’s signature fundraiser, will return to North Texas with two major events this spring. The Tarrant County Arthritis Walk will be April 27 at Tarrant County College Northeast Campus; and the Dallas Arthritis Walk is scheduled for May 18 at 12700 Park Central.

We're please to have Au as our guest speaker at the 2013 Dallas Swing Against Arthritis Golf Tournament.