CBC News reports a Fredericton teenager raised money and awareness this weekend to combat a rare disease she wasn’t even aware she had until an E. coli infection almost took her life two months ago.

Micaella Boer was in Saint John on Sunday, taking part in a fundraiser for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune blood disorder that causes the blood to become sticky and form clots in the body’s blood vessels.

The results can be deadly, causing heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure.

Boer and a friend were both hospitalized because of a near-deadly E. coli infection in July.

Doctors believe the infection triggered the disorder, a condition that will affect Boer for life.

According to the Answering TTP Foundation’s website, infections can cause the rare disease to be expressed.