It's that time of year again!!! Below is a letter that I sent out to a few hundred people about one of the things I do annually to tell people about the girl who saved my life...
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Laura and I don’t really do a lot to celebrate Valentine’s Day… I regularly tell her, “Baby, you’ve got me – every day is Valentine’s Day for you!” And she rolls her eyes – which, as often as that seems to happen, I’ve accepted as a gesture of her undying love for me… She’s the most special person in my world, and she has been for 25 years…
The next most special person in my world is someone who I’ve never met. But she’s on my mind throughout the day, every day. As a gift, she and her family have given me 10 more Valentine’s Days with my Laura. And she’s given me the ability to breathe like I’d never dreamed possible. Her name was Kari and I breathe with her beautiful lungs.
This is my ninth time participating in the Hustle up the Hancock… This is the eighth time I’ve had a team climbing with me – “Kari’s Klimbers”, named in honor of my donor. This will be the seventh time I’ve had several of Kari’s friends and volleyball teammates climbing with me … And every year I have other people with new lungs, a new heart, new corneas – and people from organ procurement organizations and hospitals who are charged with helping deliver these gifts to people like me… Kari was a star middle-hitter on her Algona High School volleyball team – she wore #13… Over the past few years, #15, #12, #8, #7, #4 and #2 have joined me in the stairwells – this year her volleyball coach and one of her teachers are joining me too… They’re coming out from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois to help me honor their friend and my hero…
Can you imagine what it feels like to be around people who loved her and people who she loved? Do you know what it feels like, year after year, to be supported by so many – and to have so many rally for my cause? It feels pretty incredibly awesome… Over the past eight years, my teams have raised over $225,000.00 for the Respiratory Health Association of Metro Chicago. That has happened because of so many people like you, helping us… How many things have you been a part of that have raised that much money and awareness for a good cause?!?! I’m grateful to be part of this one… And for me, far beyond the money, this has allowed me to tell so very many people about Kari.
If you received my email last year, you read “This might be it…” And I went on to tell you that I might not be climbing again. Apparently I lied. I’ve come to the realization that my last climb will likely involve someone carrying me up in an urn. Next year will be my tenth climb, so I can’t imagine skipping that one… Beyond helping the Respiratory Health Association – I climb to tell people about the magic and the goodness of organ donation, and about heroes in my life… I climb to help people understand how very special organ donors and their families (and friends) are. I know several people who are very precious to me, who are waiting for lungs, livers and other organs – several people who need someone like Kari in their lives… I climb because of them. And I climb to tell people about Kari – to keep her smile, and her spirit alive. With the funds we’ve raised for the RHAMC, you’ve helped give my team a platform for me to tell so many people about the girl who saved my life… And that means more than anything to me.
I know that these are not the best of financial times for many of us… Ironically, I’ve never focused on fundraising when I’ve done these climbs – but it always seems to happen. If you have a couple of bucks burning a hole in your pocket, I or anyone on my team would love a pledge… But more than anything, I’d love it if you would check out my little website and read about the beautiful girl, and all of the people surrounding me who have allowed me to leap tall buildings…
To see my Hustle page, 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...
These climbs have opened so many opportunities for me – Kari and I have been covered in so many TV and newspaper articles, and even chapters of books – I’ve spoken to so many groups of people – I’ve been on a float in the Rose Parade – and most special; I’ve met and I’ve come to adore so many of her friends… I’ve walked into rooms to speak and more than one person pulls me aside saying, “Hey! You’re the guy who climbs those buildings with your new lungs!” And often enough, they already know Kari’s smile… I am that guy – and I’m proud of that – and more than anything in the world, I want them to know her smile. I will have had her lungs for eleven years in April – and what she has allowed me to do is more than I’d ever dreamed possible – she’s on my mind throughout the day, every day.
And finally, and very important to me – please consider organ & tissue donation, register to be a donor at your state’s 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
