Melanie Faulkner, RMT

💜 A weekend of community, kindness, and making a difference. 💜

This weekend is filled with wonderful opportunities to support Harper and her family while shopping local, finding great deals, enjoying family-friendly activities, and connecting with our incredible community.

Every fundraiser, every bottle recycled, every purchase, every donation, and every share helps move Harper one step closer to her groundbreaking CTNNB1 gene replacement therapy in Slovenia.

✨ Here’s what’s happening this weekend:

🛍️ SATURDAY MORNING | YARD SALE
📍128 Ritcey Crescent, Cole Harbour
🕘 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Looking for great deals? You’ll find:
✨ Baby & kids items
✨ Household décor
✨ Books & toys
✨ Clothing & accessories
✨ Sports & exercise equipment
✨ Tools
…and so much more!

Rain or shine, with cash and card accepted. Every dollar supports Harper’s treatment.

⸻

🌸 SATURDAY AFTERNOON | GLUTEN-FREE KIDS MARKET & FUNDRAISER
🕐 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
📍The Pelvic Health Clinic,
1106 Cole Harbour Rd, Dartmouth

This isn’t just a market—it’s an afternoon of family fun!

Come support amazing local gluten-free vendors while enjoying:
🍭 A homemade sucker pull
🎯 Games and activities for kids
🎁 Great prizes
🧁 Delicious gluten-free treats
🛍️ Local vendors
❤️ Lots of fundraising activities throughout the afternoon

Bring some cash! While admission helps Harper, you’ll also want a little extra for games, treats, donations, raffle items, and other fun activities.

Whether you’re gluten-free or not, it’s a wonderful way to spend the afternoon while supporting an incredible little girl.

⸻

♻️ SUNDAY | BOTTLE DRIVE
📍Karen’s Recycling
807 Main Street, Dartmouth
🕐 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Have bottles piling up? Bring them by!

Can’t make it Sunday? You can drop off your refundable bottles anytime at Karen’s Recycling—just ask them to put them on Harper’s account.

🛍️ Sunday | Online Auction Begins!

Starting Sunday, you can bid from the comfort of your own home on an incredible variety of donated items and experiences, with all proceeds helping Harper reach her treatment goal. Auction details will be posted when available.

💜 Can’t make it this weekend?

You can still be part of Harper’s journey.

Every donation—big or small—helps bring Harper closer to the treatment that has the potential to change her future.

👉 Donate here: https://gofund.me/de81c06f4

If donating isn’t possible right now, sharing Harper’s story is just as appreciated. You never know who might see it and decide to help.

Thank you for continuing to cheer Harper on. Together, we’re showing just how powerful a caring community can be. 💜

💜 OUR COMMUNITY CAN CHANGE HARPER’S FUTURE 💜

✨ Here’s how you can help right now: ✨

🧃 Bottle Drive at Karen’s Recycling
Drop off your refundable cans and bottles and ask that they be added to Harper’s account.

🛍️ Gluten-Free Kids Market & Fundraiser
Join the community at The Pelvic Health Clinic and support local vendors while helping Harper reach treatment.

🎁 Online Auction by Rachael Murphy
Bid on donated items, donate something new or unused, or simply help spread the word.

👕 Easy Peasy Tees Fundraiser
Purchase awareness-themed shirts that support meaningful causes while helping fund Harper’s life-changing treatment.

💜 Hope for Harper Bracelets @ Dartmouth Wellness Collective
Wear your support and help spread awareness wherever you go. Every bracelet purchased helps bring Harper one step closer to treatment.

💜 GoFundMe:�https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-harper-make-history-gene-therapy-for-ctnnb1-syndrome

💜 Donate if you can.
💜 Share if you can’t.
💜 Fundraise if you’re able.

Maybe you’re a business that could place a donation jar on the counter.

Maybe you’re part of a sports team, workplace, church, school, or community group that could organize a small fundraiser.

Maybe you know someone with a large audience who would be willing to share Harper’s story.

Every contribution matters.

Every share matters.

Every bracelet worn starts a conversation.

Every conversation matters.

Harper isn’t just fighting for herself. She is helping pave the way for future children with CTNNB1 Syndrome around the world.

Let’s show this family what a community can do when we come together.

💜 Please donate.
💜 Please share.
💜 Please help Harper make history.

📸 Instagram: .harper
🌐 www.ctnnb1-foundation.org

Please share!

🍪🎉 Just one week until Harper's Gluten-Free Kids Market at 1106 Cole Harbour Rd (The Pelvic Health Clinic!)

Join us for a fun-filled community event featuring young entrepreneurs, gluten-free treats, local vendors, raffles, and more...all in support of Harper and her family!

Every bit of support helps us rally behind precious Harper and support her treatment journey. 💜

📅 Saturday, June 13th, 2026
📍 1106 Cole Harbour Rd (The Pelvic Health Clinic)
⏰ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

📣 We’re still looking for some extra helping hands and donations to make Harper’s Gluten-Free Kids Market a success.

👉 Donate items to sell or raffle
👉 Help run a game
👉 Volunteer at the door

Please share!

💜 A COMMUNITY CHALLENGE FOR HARPER💜

Imagine if 300 businesses, organizations, workplaces, families, and community members each contributed or raised $1,000.

That's $300,000.

That's Harper's treatment.

Now imagine what we could accomplish if everyone helped in whatever way they can.

Harper is an 8-year-old girl from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia who has been selected as 1 of only 3 children in the world for a groundbreaking gene therapy trial for CTNNB1 Syndrome.

Her surgery is scheduled. 📆

The medical team is ready. 👨🏼‍⚕️🧑🏽‍⚕️👩🏻‍⚕️👨🏾‍⚕️

The science is there. 🧬🔬

The only thing standing in the way is funding. 💵

We're asking our community to come together and help however they are able:

💜 Make a donation of any amount
💜 Share Harper's story
💜 Share her GoFundMe
💜 Place a donation jar at your workplace or business
💜 Organize a fundraiser
💜 Help spread awareness

The $1,000 challenge is simply an example of what could be achieved when a community comes together. Whether you donate $5, $20, $100, $1,000, or simply share this post, every contribution helps bring Harper closer to treatment.

Harper's parents, Scott & Tara Tanton, are working tirelessly to navigate treatment planning, fundraising, travel arrangements, and ongoing care. If you have fundraising ideas, sponsorship opportunities, or would like to help, they can be contacted directly:

📞 (902) 877-8272
📸 Instagram: .harper
🌐 www.ctnnb1-foundation.org
💜 GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-harper-make-history-gene-therapy-for-ctnnb1-syndrome

Let's show Harper what our community can do.

“I stretched. I rolled. Why does it still feel like a knife in my hip?” 🔥🔪

You were told you have “tight hips.”
So you attacked the IT band with a roller like it owes you money.
It burns. You cry. You stand up… and it snaps tight again.

Here’s the plot twist: the IT band is not a stretchy muscle. It’s dense fascia. Most evidence suggests it can’t be lengthened in any meaningful way with stretching or rolling. What changes is usually nervous system tone, not the band itself.

The real mechanism: the Emergency Brace 🛑

In hypermobility, the hip can be subtly unstable. When the joint feels unsafe, the nervous system turns on “backup stabilizers” to keep the leg from collapsing inward.

The usual suspects:
• TFL + glute max feed into the IT band, so when they overwork, the band feels like a tight wire.
• The glute med (side-butt stabilizer) isn’t always “weak,” but research suggests endurance/control can be the issue. It tires, coordination slips, and the system recruits the tension-cable strategy.

Why stretching fails

If the tightness is protective, stretching it is like loosening your seatbelt while the car is skidding.
Your brain senses the instability and tightens right back up.

The pivot

Stop fighting the cable. Fix the control room.

A PT will often prioritize hip stability + endurance + motor control, including isometric holds (bridge holds, hip abduction wall-press holds) and gradual loading so the IT band can “clock out.”

👇 Question that pulls stories:
Does sitting light up your deep glute, but walking feels better?

Disclaimer: I am an educational content creator, not a medical professional. Persistent hip or nerve-like pain should be evaluated by a qualified clinician.

Sources:
Geisler et al. (2021). Current Clinical Concepts… Iliotibial Band Impingement Syndrome (ITB not meaningfully stretchable).
Hutchinson et al. (2022). The Iliotibial Band: A Complex Structure… (TFL/glute max relationship with ITB).
Roosens et al. (2023). Intrinsic risk factors associated with ITBS (glute med endurance/fatigue nuance).
Wei et al. (2025). Effect of Gluteus Medius Strengthening on ITB tension/stiffness (RCT).