Steve’s Hustle Link: ClickHere
Tomorrow, on Sunday, February 25, for the 22nd
time, I’ll be taking Kari’s beautiful lungs up a bunch of stairs. 94 floors – 1,600+ steps.
2024 will be my 22nd climb – And it will be the 21st time our Kari’s Klimbers have taken the stairs for Hustle Chicago. This climb really means an awful lot to me and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Can you imagine what it feels like to live with crappy lungs for 39 years – then receive a gift of new lungs from a beautiful Iowa girl and her family. And then to meet that family, and connect with friends and teammates who loved Kari… And have them come out year after year to celebrate Kari with you. And then, when you find yourself in trouble again with my kidneys failing, Kari’s friend Alex throws you a rope – gives you a kidney – and allows you to climb for many more years! They’re good people, and they help me understand who Kari would have become. And, I get to tell people that I’m slowly being rebuilt into a girl from Iowa.
For the past 20 years I’ve had Kari’s crazy, lovable teammates, #15, #12, #8, #7, #4 & #2 in the stairwells with me, and now some of their kids climb with us – in the past, Kari’s family and several other people Kari grew up with joined us… I love that they still come out and help me honor her…
I do this climb to tell people about Kari – and tell people
about her goodness and the goodness of her family and friends – and I tell
people about Alex and the importance of organ donation. And we also do this for people with crappy
lungs, like I had. RHAMC helps people breathe easier – they
fund research in lung disease – they help people stop smoking – they help
people with lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, COPD, asthma and
other respiratory diseases live longer, easier lives. One of RHAMC’s mottos has been, “If you can’t
breathe, nothing else matters…” I lived
through that motto, and I know too many people living it now. The RHAMC and all these crazy people who
climb with me, and you, help people breathe.
We have a very special mission.
Our cause touched Laura and me another way 8 ½ years ago... My beautiful mom-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer in fall of 2015. Much to my Laura's dismay, moms and I were partners in mischief and finding the wrong foods to eat, particularly doughnuts. When she was diagnosed with lung cancer, mom and I had some long chats about options, and the strength it takes to fight, and sometimes not to fight. She chose to fight. Ironically - the chemo had dramatically shrunk her tumors - it worked. But it was too toxic for the rest of mom and she didn't survive. We do this to fund research so maybe next time - someone else's mom-in-law has a better chance of hanging around and sneaking doughnuts with them.
Like so many important causes – Respiratory Health Association needs funding to help others. If you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, I or anyone on my team would be honored to receive a pledge... But more than anything, I'd love it if you would check out my little website and read about the beautiful girl whose lungs I breathe with, as well as the beautiful girl who gave me her kidney - and the people who surrounded them, and surround me now – people who have allowed me to leap tall buildings...
To see my Hustle page or pledge me: Click
Here
To see my website about Kari, go to www.ClimbingForKari.org
To find someone on my full Kari’s Klimbers team: Click Here
Being surrounded by people who knew and loved Kari, and by
people who know and love me, is something that defies description… The support I've received from people like
you has allowed me to tell so many people about Kari… In the past 22 years, our team has raised nearly
a half million dollars - because of people like you… Thank you.
I get to do a fair amount of public speaking and, often enough, when I
walk into a room, more than one person pulls me aside and says, "You're
the one who climbs a hundred stories with your new lungs, and with your donor's
friends!!!" And, often enough, they
already know Kari's beautiful smile… I
am that guy, and I'm proud of that - and more than anything, I want them to
know her smile. I will have had her
beautiful lungs for over 24 years when I climb - and her friend's beautiful
kidney for 12 years in May - and they have and will allow me to do more than
I'd ever dreamed possible…
And finally, and very important to me - please consider
organ & tissue donation, register to be a donor on your state’s donor registry, and tell your family
how you feel. I know a beautiful girl
from Iowa who knew how she felt, and she told her family - I think about her
every single day.
Love, Steve
Steve Ferkau
Chicago, IL
Kari's Klimbers
