Breathtaking Awareness: Jolie’s Story

Days to Live, Fine Art, Philanthropy, Resilience, Renewal, Photography, Portraits

Strength often wears an unseen face.

Jolie, who lives just outside New Orleans, carries within her the quiet courage of a thousand battles fought in silence. Diagnosed with scleroderma, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH), and right-sided heart failure, her body is a map of endurance—but to look at her, you would never know the weight she bears each day.

And that is why her voice matters so deeply.

Through her work as an advocate for PH, heart failure, and scleroderma, Jolie turns her private struggles into public hope. She lends her voice to the unseen, shining a light on diseases that, though life-threatening, are often cloaked by appearances. Her work with nonprofits across the nation, her decade-long collaboration with pharma companies, and her platform Breathtaking Awareness are all born from a fierce belief: that awareness saves lives, and that no one should feel invisible.

When asked what it means to live life to the fullest, Jolie answers with the wisdom only lived experience can teach:

“Living life fully is to express love freely and embrace the love shared with you. It’s recognizing and savoring those precious moments with your loved ones when all is clear and at ease. It’s to live a life filled with emotions and always choosing love.”

In every portrait, Jolie reminds us—grace is not the absence of struggle, but the choice to lead with love through it all.

Her journey is breathtaking, not because it is easy, but because it is real. It is the living proof that even in the shadow of fragility, the human spirit rises, luminous and unbroken.

:: Rand

If you are interested in participating in Days to Live, or have someone in mind who has an inspirational story, please reach out via the contact form on the Days to Live website and I will be in touch.

All images copyright Rand Leeb-du Toit and Days to Live, 2025.