It’s April – so it’s National Donate Life Month… And awesomely enough – the Hustle up the Hancock was also postponed until April – so I get to honor Kari, Alex and Organ Donation on the month that also honors them and all donors and living donors, as well as tells everyone about the importance of organ donation…
Can you imagine having your family pounding on your chest for hours every day and working to keep you alive? Can you imagine being on oxygen 24/7, walking to a flight of stairs, looking up, and seeing Mount Everest? Can you imagine living your whole life with compromised lungs – and find yourself at your worst – knowing you’re dying?
Can you imagine getting a gift – two new lungs – from a precious young person and her grieving family? And suddenly there are no more Mount Everest’s and climbing 180+ flights, 94 floors is a walk-in-the-park!!!
Can you imagine learning about the girl and family who saved your life? Then being surrounded by people who loved her while you’re climbing those 94 floors – and they’re climbing with you – in her memory??? And years later – facing your mortality again when your kidneys are failing – then having one of her friends let you know she’s got your back, and she gives you one of her kidneys so you can both keep climbing? I’m not sure how you can imagine all of this because before I started living it – I never imagined how amazing it could feel to just breathe.
We’re climbing again!!! We’re late this year – renovations on the Hancock Observatory delayed the Hustle from our usual February to April 13. On the plus side – it’s the day after my birthday… And what could be better after a night of drinking and celebrating than climbing the stairs 94 floors at 8:15am-in-the-morning?!?!
This is my 12th climb, the 11th climb for my team - I've got 100 people climbing with me, including a dozen people Kari grew up with... #15, #12, #8, #7, #4 & #2 will be in the stairwells with me - Kari was a star middle-hitter on her Algona High School volleyball team - she wore #13 - her teammates will be in the stairwells with me (including #7, Alex, the original owner of my new kidney...) They're coming out from Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and Illinois to help me honor their friend and my hero... And several other people Kari grew up with will be with me as well. Can you imagine how I feel when I'm surrounded by people who loved Kari? Surrounded by people who Kari loved??? They're all good people - and they give me a glimpse of who Kari would have become...
I do this to tell people about Kari – about her and her family’s goodness – and about Alex and about the importance of organ donation. And we also do this for the Respiratory Health Association... RHAMC funds research in lung disease - they help people stop smoking - their work helps everyone breathe cleaner air... They help people breathe easier. I know what it's like to breathe with diseased lungs - and now I know what it's like to breathe with the most beautiful lungs in the world. One of RHAMC's mottos has been, "If you can't breathe, nothing else matters..." I lived through that motto, and know too many people living it now. The RHAMC and all of these people who climb with me help people breathe. We have a very special mission...
I know these are not the best of financial times for many of us... 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…
These climbs always mean so much to me... Being surrounded by people who knew and loved Kari, and by people who know and love me, is something that defies description...and the support I've received from people like you has allowed me to tell so many people about Kari... In the past 12 years, our team has raised well over $300,000.00 - 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 14 years when I climb - and her friend's beautiful kidney for 2 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' 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
[email protected]
www.ClimbingForKari.org
p.s. I did manage to get a little media attention in March – I was on WGN TV in a Living Healthy Chicago spot talking about organ donation, and about Kari. And both of our cats mad their TV debut!!! Here is the YouTube video:
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