TO LOOK at Karli Elder, you could be forgiven for believing her to be a normal kid, happy, full of energy and loving life.

And she is is happy, full of energy and does love life - she also has cystic fibrosis.

It's a disease for which there is no known cure and the long-term future for Karli is bleak.

Efforts to reverse this prognosis for all cystic fibrosis sufferers are alive and well in the community of Proserpine.

This Sunday, an event called the Run as 1 for Cystic Fibrosis will offer a 5km run or walk and a 1.5km dog walk.

Karli's mum and dad, Faye and Clay Elder, wage a daily battle against the effects of the disease in the hope a cure or treatment is found before it's too late for Karli.

"You have got no choice and you make the best of it, and really we are inspired by her because she is so beautiful and energetic and upbeat and spunky,” Faye said.

"She has had six times in hospital where she has been on intravenous antibiotics for a fortnight.

"You go in and you are there for two weeks and you hope that you clear it.

"You need to keep that chest clear and fight that infection when you get it.”

Faye and Clay work as a team to give Karli the best possible chance of a normal childhood, prioritising her care above their careers and their own wants.

"Its a progressive thing, it's not going to go away and you do the work and put the effort in to treat infection aggressively and hope for the best.

"You need a bit of luck as well,” Faye said.

Clay has undergone special training in physiotherapy and twice a day works on Karli's chest to clear it of mucus.

"Her lungs get gummed up and it just sits there. It takes 25 minutes a day of belting (on her chest) and about 10 minutes of nebulising each session,” he said.

"The best way to explain it is when you get a cold and at the end of it you get that really solid stuff - that is what it is and her chest is like that all the time.”

Karli will take part in the dog walk event with her little dog Spotty and hopes to win best trick on Sunday as well.

Sign in at 5.30am at StCath's for the 5km event and 6.45am for the dog walk.