Featured In The Film

Bernadette Scarduzio

John A. Scarduzio is Bernadette’s father and suffered from Charcot Marie Tooth. Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania diagnosed John at age 12, although through a miscommunication, his parents didn’t fully understand until John’s father was diagnosed when John was in his 20s. By this time, John was already married and had a son, with his wife, Maria, although they prayed for a daughter as well.
"We prayed so much for a girl...and made a promise that if the baby was healthy in any way, they would name her after St. Bernadette. She was a beautiful little girl when she was born, but unfortunately the doctors were wrong. It’s equally hereditary in females and males, and Bernadette ironically has it worse than anyone in the family." John reveals in the film, as he discusses his family history with C-M-T.
John was a hairdresser and owned a salon when he passed away from a heart attack. Though initially angry with him after learning their “family secret,” Bernadette explains John frequently apologized to her and felt guilt for passing on this disease, which Bernadette has come to consider a gift from him because it made her who she is today.

Allison Moore, founded HNF in 2001 in an effort to improve the quality of life for people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, more information can be found at http://www.hnf-cure.org. Allison was diagnosed with C-M-T after a hospital mishap in which she was treated with medications that exacerbated her C-M-T symptoms and made her legs weak and imbalanced. Her goal was to create one of the best storehouses of information about C-M-T in the country and also to raise awareness of C-M-T to both the general public and to medical professionals. Featured in New York Magazine, People, Scientific American, and local radio/TV, Allison is a national champion for increasing awarness of C-M-T and improving the quality of life for those who live with the disease. “I remember going upstairs in this restaurant and taking off my braces and putting them on her and watching [Bernadette] stand and her saying ‘I got to get these, I got to get these’” Allison notes of their first meeting and how the braces came to push Bernadette to continue training and building her strength up.

She divides her time between her homes in Manhattan and Amagansett, NY, with her husband, Robert, and her two young sons.

Glenn B. Pfeffer, MD is Director of the Foot and Ankle Program at Cedars-Sinai’s Orthopaedic Center and Co-Director of the Cedars-Sinai/USC Glorya Kaufman Dance Medicine Center. Dr. Pfeffer's primary clinical and research interests involve sports injuries and reconstruction of the foot and ankle. He has pioneered several minimally invasive techniques for foot and ankle surgery. He is a past president of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, the American Association of Foot and Ankle surgeons and the California Orthopaedic Association. He served on the national board of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Dr. Pfeffer received his bachelor's degree from Yale University. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed a surgical internship and orthopedic residency.

Dr. Pfeffer completed fellowships in both foot and ankle surgery at the University of Texas in Houston and in hand and microvascular surgery at the University of California, San Diego. After completion of his training, he served for six months with Project Hope as a volunteer orthopedic surgeon overseas. “Once one person knows, it’s out. All of a sudden there’s a secret, a family secret, that’s being shared with the world.” He explains in the film while discussing the complicated nature of people discovering about C-M-T.

David Needleman is a portrait photographer, specifically concentrating on celebrity as his subject matter. After receiving his degree from ‘The School of Visual Arts’, Needleman spent the first 8 years of his career working for, and being mentored by, Steven Meisel. During that time, Needleman became a regular contributor of celebrity portraiture to Abercrombie’s A&F Quarterly. More recently, his work has appeared in New York Times, L’oumo Vogue, Vanity Fair, Gourmet Live, Playboy and Broadway.

“I mostly photograph celebrity portraits and Bernadette and her story is very inspiring and I just think this is something that needs to be documented and I’m really grateful and appreciative that I’m able to be a part of her story.” David tells the filmmakers during a studio session with Bernadette that will ultimately yield the DVD cover photo.

David is based in Brooklyn, but spends his time between New York and Los Angeles.