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Angel: My family has been diagnosed with a disease since the 1980s. My grandpa and his generation, his brothers, they saw their grandfather pass away from what they called the curse.

Dane: When I was little, seeing my grandfather, sitting there at the table and I didn't realize what his sickness was. I just see what he went through.

Mark: Me losing my father was a tragedy that uh, I still haven't recuperated from.

Angel: It's called hereditary ATTR amyloidosis. It was first diagnosed in my grandpa and my great uncles. They had passed away from it in the late 80s, early 90s. Now, my mother's generation and the older generation of my people are now showing symptoms.

Tonya: Amyloid has kind of been the black cloud in my family, I guess it's the only way I can really describe it.

Daryel: It's a terminal disease. It affects your life. Affects your outlook on life.

Tonya: My mother moved in with me, I really didn't know how bad she was, until she actually moved in with me. She sleeps constantly. She has a hard time walking sometimes, because the pain between her knee and her hip is so severe.

Angel: These are real people and these are real faces and and you know, these, we need research. We need management. We need people paying attention to us and knowing that this disease applies to real people.