Revive Hope

Kari's Klimbers - Hustle Chicago 2021 - Soldier Field!!!

 

 

 

 

April 8, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 years ago on this date, I was dying.  21 years ago the next day – I was not.  And these past 21 years have been beyond my wildest dreams.  21 years ago yesterday, a beautiful 17-year-old girl from Iowa passed away.  Her name was Kari.  Kari and her family saved my life.  I now breathe with Kari’s lungs.  Before Kari, I never understood what breathing well felt like – I never had a frame of reference for how I live now.

 

In a little under a week, on Sunday, April 18, for the 19^th time, I’ll be taking Kari’s beautiful lungs up a bunch of stairs.  Because of this crazy Covid-19 thing we’ve been dealing with, I’ll be taking them up stairs outdoors at Soldier Field instead of the 94 floors of the “Hancock” Building.  This will be the 19^th time I’ve participated in the Hustle event for Respiratory Health Association of Metro Chicago.  My team this year will be quite limited, but still mighty.

 

For the past 16 years I’ve had Kari’s crazy, lovable teammates, #15, #12, #8, #7, #4 & #2 in the stairwells with me – along with her family and several other people Kari grew up with…  

This year, I’ve kinda asked them to hold off – Chicago won’t be as lively has it has been in past years, and all of the traveling would involve more risk than I’d care to see.

2021 will be my 19^th climb – And it will be the 18^th 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, 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…

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 5 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 takes 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…  While this year will be a little different, I know they will still surround my heart.  The support I've received from people like you has allowed me to tell so many people about Kari…  In the past 19 years, our team has raised over $400,000.00 - 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 over 21 years when I climb - and her friend's beautiful kidney for 9 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

 

Kari's Klimbers 2017 - Fifteen Times!

This past September, my Laura and I put 2,000 miles on our car making three trips to Iowa. We were invited to see Kari's beautiful, younger friend, Nicole, marry her Adam - and I got to reconnect with several of Kari's friends. Over the next two weeks - I was invited to speak at the University of Iowa Heart/Lung Transplant Picnic - then Iowa Donor Network's "Ripple Effect" conference, speaking to hundreds of medical professionals about Kari, Alex and organ donation. I spent a few days with the crazy-beautiful peeps above. They all mean the world to me. I get to speak a dozen or so times yearly - and now and then in Iowa... When I'm in Iowa, my soul glows - the emotion in my talk, which is usually quite high anyhoo, goes up exponentially. I think I nailed my "Ripple Effect" talk - a whole buncha people will never forget Kari's smile, Alex's smile, or their friends who leap tall buildings with me every year around now... (And Laura will not forgive me for the awesome decals I found on my journeys - one of which gives new meaning to Iowa Transplant...)

Ain't these freaking awesome?!?! This is the fifteenth time I will ascend the 1,632 steps, 94 floors of the John Hancock Center in the Hustle Up the Hancock!!! This is the fourteenth time for my team, Kari's Klimbers...

The simple fact that I actually can take the stairs 94 floors up is mind-boggling - when not too long ago, standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs, my oxygen tank weighing on my shoulder, felt like I was at the base of Mount Everest. Actually - it was 16 years, 316 days ago that Kari came into my life and changed all of that...

This is the back of my team shirt... The splash of numbers and initials are people who are very special to me. Almost all of them are people from Iowa who knew and loved Kari - who have come out to be with us and climb with us. Kari was #13 on her Algona Bulldogs High School volleyball team - the top two rows are Kari's volleyball teammates who climb regularly. (#7 is my Alex, who gave me Mabel, her kidney, in May 2012!). The next four rows of initials are Kari's friends, and people who Kari grew up with... The bottom row are not Iowans - but they are people special to me, some of whom have climbed with us, who we've lost over the past years because this transplant thing, and some we've lost just because life can be rather fragile.

Here are the people behind all of the numbers on my shirt - stopping for a picture on Kari's floor, 13, during the climb a few years ago. I cannot imagine adoring daughters more than I do these girls. I would take a bullet for any one of them. Preferably small caliber and in an extremity - but nonetheless, a bullet. It's been 17 years. Now and then one or two of them miss, apologizing profusely, because, ya know, well - life happens - but most of them are out here every year to be together, and help me remember and honor their friend. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? (Or how that makes Kari's family feel???)

Since we'd started fifteen years ago, I'd tell you in a heartbeat that I never did this to raise money, I do it to tell people about Kari, and about the goodness of organ donation. But, the money Kari's Klimbers has raised over the past years is probably approaching a half million dollars! I know what it's like to struggle for breath - to be afraid of dying... Can you imagine how many people in my respiratory shoes who we've helped??? I hope Kari would be proud of the people we've helped in her memory, and in her honor.

The Hustle and the Respiratory Health Association also funds lung cancer research. It gets less press, but lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer combined. Along with Kari - our climb is also dedicated to Laura's mom. My beautiful mom-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer in fall 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 sometimes takes 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 - she passed months after her diagnosis. We climb 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.

But to me - this climb will always be about Kari, and the beautiful people who surrounded her. And about Alex - one of the people who surrounded Kari who, years later found out I was in trouble, and let me know she had my back. After 12 years of the drugs that allow me to keep Kari's lungs destroyed my kidneys - almost five years ago Alex gave me one of her kidneys. Can you imagine what it feels like to be surrounded by people who loved Kari that much???

And about those awesome, olive-drab and hunter's orange shirts... I didn't know Kari... But on Saturday and Sunday I will be surrounded by several people who Kari grew up with - people who knew and loved Kari... And on Sunday, I will be surrounded by over one hundred people who come out to climb with me, and help me honor Kari and her friends... And we will all be wearing these awesome green shirts - the colors picked out by Kari's cool nephew, Garrett - in the picture
here with his beautiful sister, Eva Kari. I can't even imagine how much Kari would adore her niece & nephew, Eva & Garrett... And I can only imagine how much they would adore Kari... And I think she would be tickled-pink at the colors her Garrett chose for this years climb!!!

As I'd mentioned, seventeen years ago, standing at the base of a flight of stairs with my oxygen tank weighing on my shoulder – looking up that flight felt like I was at the base of Mount Everest. In my wildest, wildest dreams – I could not have imagined a world where I could stroll up 94 floors of stairs – 1,632 steps – without skipping a beat. I could do it every single, freaking day… Seriously! I can do it because of organ donation. I can do it because of two beautiful girls from Iowa – and the inspiration from dozens of their friends and families. And I can do it because of millions of people, like you, over the years supporting people like me… Thank you.

If things are tight, just cheer me on, and think about Kari, Alex and all of the people involved in saving lives like mine… But, if you can spare a few bucks, please consider opening a purse or wallet and donating to me, my team, or someone on my team, or someone you know doing this climb… I know an awful lot of people struggling like I did. You can help me do something to help them – and help me pay forward the millions who have kept me here on this beautiful planet.

Contribute to Steve's climb – click here…
Contribute to Kari's Klimbers or a team member – click here…
To see my website about Kari and what she's done – click here…
To register to become an organ & tissue donor – click here…

We're Pink!!! HOT PINK!!! Kari's Klimbers 2016

Ain't these freaking awesome?!?!

This is the fourteenth time I will ascend the 1,632 steps, 94 floors of the John Hancock Center in the Hustle Up the Hancock!!! This is the thirteenth time for my team, Kari's Klimbers...

The simple fact that I actually can take the stairs 94 floors up is mind-boggling - when not too long ago, standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs, my oxygen tank weighing on my shoulder, felt like I was at the base of Mount Everest. Actually - it was 15 years, 325 days ago that Kari came into my life and changed all of that...

This is the back of my team shirt... The splash of numbers and initials are people who are very special to me. Almost all of them are people from Iowa who knew and loved Kari - who have come out to be with us and climb with us. Kari was #13 on her Algona Bulldogs High School volleyball team - the top two rows are Kari's volleyball teammates who climb regularly. (#7 is my Alex, who gave me Mabel, her kidney, in May 2012!). The next four rows of initials are Kari's friends, and people who Kari grew up with... The bottom row are not Iowans - they are people special to me, some of whom have climbed with us, who we've lost over the past years because this transplant thing, and sometimes just life, can be rather fragile.

Here are the people behind all of the numbers on my shirt - stopping for a picture on Kari's floor, 13, during the climb a few years ago. I cannot imagine adoring daughters more than I do these girls. I would take a bullet for any one of them. Preferably small caliber and in an extremity - but nonetheless, a bullet. It's been 16 years. Now and then one or two of them miss, apologizing profusely, because, ya know, well - life happens - but most of them are out here every year to be together, and help me remember and honor their friend. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? (Or how that makes Kari's family feel???)

Since we'd started fourteen years ago, I'd tell you in a heartbeat that I never did this to raise money, I do it to tell people about Kari, and about the goodness of organ donation. But, the money Kari's Klimbers has raised over the past years is probably approaching a half million dollars! I know what it's like to struggle for breath - to be afraid of dying... Can you imagine how many people in my respiratory shoes who we've helped??? I hope Kari would be proud of the people we've helped in her memory, and in her honor.

The Hustle and the Respiratory Health Association also funds lung cancer
research. It gets less press, but lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer combined. Along with Kari - this year our climb is also dedicated to Laura's mom. My beautiful mom-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer last fall. 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 sometimes takes 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 climb 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.

But to me - this climb will always be about Kari, and the beautiful people who surrounded her. And about Alex - one of the people who surrounded Kari who, years later found out I was in trouble, and let me know she had my back. After 12 years of the drugs that allow me to keep Kari's lungs destroyed my kidneys - four years ago Alex gave me one of her kidneys. Can you imagine what it feels like to be surrounded by people who loved Kari that much???

And about those awesome, hot pink shirts... I didn't know Kari... But on Saturday and Sunday I will be surrounded by several people who Kari grew up with - people who knew and loved Kari... And on Sunday, I will be surrounded by over one hundred people who come out to climb with me, and help me honor Kari and her friends... And we will all be wearing hot pink and neon green shirts - the colors picked out by Kari's beautiful niece, Eva Kari - in the picture here with her brother Garrett. I can't even imagine how much Kari would adore her niece & nephew, Eva & Garrett... And I can only imagine how much they would adore Kari... And I think she would be tickled-pink at the colors her Eva chose for this years climb!!!

As I'd mentioned, sixteen years ago, standing at the base of a flight of stairs with my oxygen tank weighing on my shoulder – looking up that flight felt like I was at the base of Mount Everest. In my wildest, wildest dreams – I could not have imagined a world where I could stroll up 94 floors of stairs – 1,632 steps – without skipping a beat. I could do it every single, freaking day… Seriously! I can do it because of organ donation. I can do it because of two beautiful girls from Iowa – and the inspiration from dozens of their friends and families. And I can do it because of millions of people, like you, over the years supporting people like me… Thank you.

If things are tight, just cheer me on, and think about Kari, Alex and all of the people involved in saving lives like mine… But, if you can spare a few bucks, please consider opening a purse or wallet and donating to me, my team, or someone on my team, or someone you know doing this climb… I know an awful lot of people struggling like I did. You can help me do something to help them – and help me pay forward the millions who have kept me here on this beautiful planet.

Contribute to Steve's climb – click here…

Contribute to Kari's Klimbers or a team member – click here…

To see my website about Kari and what she's done – click here…

To register to become an organ & tissue donor – click here…

We're leaping tall buildings again!!! Hustle up the Hancock, 2014

 

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:

 

 

Hustle up the Hancock – 2014!!!

First off – registration is still this coming Friday, November 1st at 8:00am sharp, as it always is – and it will sell out in around an hour! But – the 2014 climb is not at the end of February because the Hancock is undergoing renovations. The 2014 climb will be on April 13th!

 

I started participating in this crazy thing 12 years ago on a lark... I was volunteering at a health fair with Laura, telling people about organ donation - and about Kari, who I had recently learned about... She meant, and means everything to me. RHAMC - Respiratory Health Association - had a booth nearby and, when our duties were finished, I stopped by to tell RHAMC about the beautiful girl who saved my life - about breathing with her amazing lungs - and to thank them for what they do for people like me who struggle, or have struggled for breath.

There were two beautiful chicks manning the booth. You might imagine I had them in tears telling them about Kari. You imagine right. They told me about their stairclimb up the Hancock - that they had half-climb spots available - that I could climb 800 of the 1600 steps with them. I told them I'd think about it...

I went home. I took the stairs 10 floors to our condo... I emailed them back and said I was "in". She told me she might be able to get me into the full climb - 1,622 steps - 94 floors. I think I hesitated - but I thought this would be a neat way to honor Kari and her family and what they gave me, so I didn't hesitate long... I climbed in my first Hustle up the Hancock in 2003.

The next year, 25 people joined with me on my Kari's Klimbers team. 50 joined me the year after - and almost 100 every year since!

My third year, Kari's friends and volleyball teammates started coming out! For my 10th climb, Kari's mom, her sister, Godmother and cousin also came out! Can you imagine what it's like to have your life saved by someone so precious - then find yourself surrounded by her friends, volleyball teammates, her family, people who loved her dearly - who help you honor and remember Kari???

And - if that isn't enough - years after receiving her gift, the drugs I take to keep that gift gradually destroyed my already compromised kidneys, leaving me wondering whether I was at the end of my road, much less whether I would climb again... Kari wore #13 on her volleyball team. #7 was first among several people who asked to be tested to give me a kidney... In May, 2012, #7, Alex, gave me one of her kidneys. Neither of us missed a single climb!!! There is only one thing in the world that means more to me than Kari & Alex - I married her. And, Kari & Alex have given me many, many more years to be with Laura. (Here is a link to a story about what Alex did for me...)

Outside of my climbing activity - in transplant support groups I attend, on Facebook, through friends & acquaintances - I'm surrounded by people waiting for lungs, and waiting for kidneys, hearts & livers. I find it can be incredibly motivating for them to meet a goof who climbs hundred-story buildings with his new lungs, his new kidney and with his donor's friends. Many of them have eventually climbed with me after they've received what they need!!! I connect with people in transplant and organ procurement fields - and with donor families - who often only see the difficult, donation side of transplant... I love helping them understand what they've done for someone... Many of them end up climbing with me too!

I never did this to raise money - I did this to honor Kari... But, we've raised over $300,000.00 in the past 12 years to support the RHAMC and people with lung disease. I do this for all of them... I do this for people who struggle for air - for breath - like I once did... But mostly I do this for Kari - for who she was, for the life she led - and for the life she missed. I do this to honor the gift she's given me - which includes the gift of all of her friends... I do this to remember her - and so others will never forget her. I do this for Alex too, who supported me since her early years at the University of Northern Iowa, and eventually gave me one of her kidneys - and who now lets me tell others that I'm slowly being rebuilt into a girl from Iowa!

And I do this because of so many of you who have given me and my team so much support, and you motivate me to haul my three-sevenths-Iowa-girl-fanny up 1,622 steps every year!

If you’re considering joining us at the climb this year – here is my recruitment letter that I sent out a few weeks ago:

First – the big news! (No, I’m not hanging up my climbing shoes…)(Apparently not ever…) This year we will have a SPRING climb!!! The John Hancock Center is undergoing renovations in early 2014 – so, instead of climbing on the last Sunday in February, the 2014 climb will be on Sunday, April 13, 2014!!! Though the climb is postponed almost two months – registration will still be on Friday, November 1st at 8:00am sharp…

2014 will be my 12th climb – and the 11th time my Kari’s Klimbers team has taken the stairs 94 floors, 1,622 steps to the top of the John Hancock Center for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

This past year has been quite good – no more 10” cuts up my belly – and Mabel is working awesomely (the kidney that Kari’s friend, Alex, gave me last year…) Not that any of that stopped me from climbing over the past two years – and there’s nothing on the horizon scheduled to put a damper on this coming climb.

It’s that time of year again… Registration for the 2014 climb is about four weeks away – on Friday, November 1st at 8:00am SHARP!!! Over the years, the Hustle has sold out in roughly an hour – be there on time! As I mentioned above – the climb is on Sunday, April 13, 2014 – not the usual February climb! Registration has gone up slightly to $150 this year.

My www.climbingforkari.org website needs a little updating – but the links should be going to the right places. I will register early on October 15th to create our “Kari’s Klimbers” team (and commit to raising $1000) so that our team will be available to join at 8:00am on Friday, November 1st and there are no delays in registration. DO NOT SIGN UP BEFORE 8:00AM ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST – if you do, you too will be committing to raise at least $1000. Registering at or after 8:00am on Friday, November 1st does not commit you to raising anything beyond your registration fee (though, I’m always grateful if you choose to do so!!!) Drop me a line if you’re interested in the Hustle this coming year – or just join my team on November 1st… I’ll send you a reminder with links to the registration page a few days before November 1st. Remember – the full climb sells out in about an hour.

Instructions for joining my team are on my www.climbingforkari.org website… A direct link to the instruction page is HERE… There is a step-by-step document on that page, as well as a link to retrieve your prior username and password that will speed your registration.

And finally – thank you so much for climbing with me in past years, if this is not your first climb… I spoke about quitting a few times in the recent past – I’ve had things I wanted to focus on and this takes a lot of thought and energy (so much of which falls on Laura’s back!!!) But – this is what I do… And Kari’s friends also let me know that quitting didn’t seem to be an option for me.

I do a fair amount of public speaking about organ donation and about Kari (and now Alex) – so much of what I talk about revolves around my participation in the Hustle – and meeting her friends through the Hustle – about the people who come out to support me at the Hustle – about YOU… This climb has become part of who I am and what I do – and YOU have helped make it what it is for me…

Some of you have climbed with me for eleven years… Some of you for several years. Almost every year I meet someone new who knew Kari, and they come out to remember her with me. And for some of you – well, I just met you, and this is crazy, but we’re climbing 94 floors soon – join us maybe?! Through these past twelve years we’ve raised around $300,000 together – that freaking blows my mind… How many times have you been part of a team that has raised that much funding??? I haven’t either. And this has happened because of so many people like you helping me. Thank you. And more special than the money will ever mean to me – you’ve helped me build a little platform to tell the world about Kari, and about Alex, and the gifts they’ve given – and you’ve helped me tell so many others about organ donation.

We’ve had so many recipients, and donor family members, and friends of donors on our team – and when I go places to speak about organ donation, people say, “You’re that guy who climbs 100 story buildings with your new lungs!!!) And so many of them know Kari’s smile, and her name – and that means everything to me. I would have never generated that much excitement alone – I would have never generated that much awareness without all of you.

I know that times are a little tough and cash is a little tight for many of us – and if you can’t make it this year, that’s OK – and thank you for the times you have made it. If you can make it – I’m honored to have you on my team.

Love, Steve

Steve Ferkau
Kari’s Klimbers
[email protected]
www.climbingforkari.org/

WTMX Chicago Radio - National Organ & Tissue Donation Awareness Month Interview!

Last Sunday, April 7th, I was interviewed with Allison Smith, Vice President of Operations at Gift of Hope, to speak about organ donation and National Organ & Tissue Donation Awareness week. Her are links to the podcast of our interview. The podcast is titled: Podcast: 04/08/13 – With new lungs and a kidney, Chicagoan Steve Ferkau jokes that he’s slowly becoming a girl from Iowa. Eternally grateful, Steve makes a great case for all of us to become organ and tissue donors.

 

Quite a long title! The podcast is around 25 minutes long – but I think it’s quite a nice interview.

To link directly to the podcast, click here…

To link to the WTMX podcast page where this interview is located, click here…

 

Each week, 101.9fm The MIX presents special Public Affairs programming to address the issues and concerns facing the people of Chicago and its surrounding communities. Our locally-produced "MIX Matters", hosted by Susan Wiencek, features Chicago-area officials and experts discussing the issues that affect our community. We encourage you to tune in every Sunday morning between 6:30AM and 7:30AM.

"MIX Matters" with Susan Wiencek

Sundays at 6:30am

April is National Donate Life Month so if you haven't signed up to be an organ and tissue donor, now would be a good time. And if you're not sure, our guests today might put you over the top. Allison Smith is Vice President of Operations for the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network, and Steve Ferkau is an organ donor recipient, twice over. He jokes that he's slowly being rebuilt into a girl from Iowa but takes very seriously the life-saving gifts of organ donation that he's received.

Happy Birthday Kari!

Today my beautiful lungs turn 30… Kari would have been 30 today.

I wonder who she would have become, and what she would have been like… If I judge by the people who surrounded her – people who surround me now – I think she too would have been pretty amazing.

Every year since I’ve known of Kari – Laura and I have flowers placed on her grave in Algona, Iowa… This year I had a little scramble because the flower shop I always use was destroyed by fire last April – a few of the girl’s moms offered to place our flowers for us.

I think it’s kinda beautiful that my kidney’s mom placed our flowers on Kari’s grave. Alex’s mom offered, and I took her up on it… Tessa’s mom offered too. I know I would have had no shortage of people willing to do this for us. Alex’s mom placed an arrangement with 13 roses and a card – my card read:

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Happy Birthday Kari!!!

I was with #15, #12, #9, #8, #7, #4 & #2 last weekend!!! And the kidney your buddy #7 gave me is just amazing – I think that last May, my lungs reached down and gave their friend’s kidney a hug. I wonder how much longer I’ll be breathing with the gift you gave me because of Alex… I don’t think I noticed how much my failing kidneys were hampering me. With your beautiful lungs and Alex’s beautiful kidney, I can climb 100 floors every day – with ease…

It was an amazing weekend – I wish you were here with them – but I guess, in a little way, you were. I barely get to see them because it’s just too hectic – but I know it’s more important that they see one another. They’re here to celebrate and remember you, and climb with me. I think it’s beautiful that, after almost 13 years, you are still getting them together.

I never knew you and I miss you… Happy Birthday… My beautiful lungs are 30 today – I never imagined life could be this good. Thank you.

Love, Lungs & Laura

What it's all about...

This is Laura… She generally doesn’t like pictures of herself being bandied about on the interwebs – but this is a special occasion, so I’m hoping I won’t get smacked…

When we met – around 27 years ago – I was kinda head-over-heels for her. She thought I was a bit of an idiot. I’ve always been strong with first impressions! I gradually won her over. I often talk about a little discussion we had, when we started dating in earnest. She already knew about my cystic fibrosis – but I explained it a little more deeply. I told her that the likelihood of me living another 10 years was VERY slim – I was already well on the outside of life expectancy for a CF patient at the time (though I know those are only numbers…)

When that 10 year limit I placed on myself started rolling around – I actually was in kinda deep stuff. I wasn’t far from fulfilling my projection.

A beautiful girl from Iowa changed all that.

We waited for lungs for nearly three years before Kari saved my life. It wasn’t easy – I think especially for Laura. As patients, sometimes we’re only dying – but the people who love us are watching us, and feeling that there is nothing they can do about it. But they are there – and sometimes that’s more than they’ll ever know. I went to sleep every night asking to survive this and, knowing that Laura has watched me go downhill for 10 years – I wanted just one good year with her – so that she didn’t have to watch me get to my very worst, then leave her… Since I’ve known Laura – she’s always been the reason I’ve wanted to keep living.

Thirteen years ago, next month, Kari and her family saved my life. I think of Kari throughout the day, every single day. I love her family and I adore her friends. I’ve nurtured so many relationships in Organ Procurement Organizations, especially Gift of Hope and Iowa Donor Network, as well as other organ donation and transplant organizations.  I get to show them what they do for people like me.  I’ve been able to thank my doctors, and so many others in the medical field, who struggle to keep people like me alive.   I’ve met so many donor family members – and I try to show them what they’ve done for someone like me…

As if all this is not enough – the last few years my kidneys started to fail… They were compromised before I got my lungs, and the immunosuppressive drugs, and other drugs gradually destroyed them… I was again contemplating the possibility of losing Laura and everything Kari gave me, and leaving this planet. Then, several people offered to be tested to give me a kidney – and one of Kari’s friends, Alex, gave me one of her kidneys last May. Now, two beautiful girls from Iowa changed the course of my life.

I've run 5Ks.  I leap tall buildings – I participate in stair climbs in 100 floor buildings!!! I go to work every day – I participate in life, maybe with a little more gusto than some – and I’m not in a perpetual state of exhaustion like I was…  I live life in a way I'd never dreamed possible.  These are amazing gifts I’ve been given. And of all of the gifts I’ve been given, the most precious gift is more time with my princess.

Though she usually begs to differ – in my mind and in my heart, she’s more beautiful than when I fell in love with her 27 years ago… Seriously – look at the picture above – how could you not fall head-over-heels for that??? (And that’s a recent picture!) Laura often jokes that I promised her 10 years and we should have been her “starter marriage” – or that she should be on her second, wealthy, good-looking husband by now! But I know she’s joking. I think she’s joking!

This is what organ donation does for people. This is the gift that you might give to someone when you leave this planet – or maybe, you might decide to help someone before you leave this planet… Kari and her family have allowed me to reach my 24th wedding anniversary with Laura when I doubted whether I’d reach my 10th. Alex has allowed me to continue my life with Laura…

Can you imagine giving someone 13 more years with their wife or husband?  Giving someone 13 more years with their children?  Or giving a child 13 more years to experience life with their mom & dad?  Don't just imagine - do it - take some action - tell your family how you feel about organ and tissue donation, and register in your state’s registry. Extra time is what it’s all about…

Kari's Klimbers - Hustle up the Hancock 2013

It’s that time again – this is my 11th climb – this is my team’s 10th climb. We’re taking the stairs 94 floors, 1,632 steps, to the top of the John Hancock Center in Chicago for the Respiratory Health Association in the Hustle up the Hancock!!! It’s an awesome adventure – some might think even a little crazy – but I do it to honor and remember a beautiful girl from Iowa named Kari. I breathe with Kari’s lungs. My team is Kari’s Klimbers.

This year I have another reason to continue this goofy stuff – another person to honor… Last May, one of Kari’s friends, neighbors and volleyball teammates gave me one of her kidneys. Kari has given me so many more amazing years to stay with Laura, and my family and friends. Last May, Alex added to those years.

Here is my annual Hustle letter that I sent out this year:

It’s time to take the stairs 94 floors to the top of the John Hancock again!!! Last year was quite special – it was my 10th climb. And, among the 150 people on my Kari’s Klimbers team, there were also more than 30 people with me who Kari knew, and grew up with – including Kari’s Mom & Godmother, and Sister & Cousin…

It’s within the realm of possibility that last year may have been my last climb – I was in kidney failure. After 12 years with Kari’s beautiful lungs, the drugs I take to keep her gift destroyed my kidneys. I would have likely been on dialysis by May, June or July and likely unable to climb in this year. But I’m not. I’m climbing. Because on May 8th, one of Kari’s friends – Alex – gave me one of her kidneys. It seems I'm slowly being rebuilt into a girl from Iowa.

Sunday, February 24th will be my 11th climb, the 10th climb for my team - I've got 120 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... Can you imagine how I feel when I'm surrounded by people who loved Kari? Surrounded by people who Kari loved??? They're good people - and they give me a glimpse of who Kari would have become...

I do this to tell people about Kari, and about her goodness, and about the goodness of organ donation - and we also do this for the Respiratory Health Association... They fund 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 - and 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 have meant 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 11 years, our team has raised well over a quarter 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 13 years in April - and her friends beautiful kidney for a year 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

My full Hustle link:

http://my.imisfriendraising.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=303138&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=www.lungchicago.org%2fhustle

 

Donate Life Float Rose Dedications - Last Chance!!!

Four years ago I was given the honor of riding the Donate Life Float in the 2009 Rose Parade. That year, and every year since, I’ve been able to dedicate a rose on the float to Kari. Above is a picture of me placing my roses in 2009.  This year, I have the privilege of dedicating two roses to two Iowa girls who loved one another – My donor, Kari, and her friend Alex.

In memory of Kari Westberg: Your beautiful lungs have given me 13 years of life. 13 years of AMAZING life. 30 people who you loved were with me this year – including your Mom & Lys. They, and I, will always love you. Love,Steve

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of Alex Redenius: I breathe with Kari’s beautiful lungs. You were her friend. Meeting you, I knew you were special. I never imagined how special you’d be. Thank you for my new kidney, Mabel. Love you for always, Steve

 

 

 

I have a lot more to say to either of them than would ever fit in a dedication limited to 200 characters (including spaces). I guess one way to limit my ability to go on-and-on is to limit my characters. But, please don’t mention that to Laura – she could find a way to enforce that limit regularly! (And, you may notice that both dedications are exactly 200 characters, including spaces.)

Now through December 23rd, you too can dedicate a rose for the low-low price of $30 – and your dedicated rose will be placed in the Donate Life Dedication Garden on the front of the Donate Life Float that will be in the Rose Parade on January 1st, 2013. You can dedicate roses to someone who has given, or received, or awaits the gift of life. A link that will guide you through the dedication process is here:

Donate Life Dedication Garden
Individual Dedications

Below is a rendition of the 2013 Donate Life Float, “Journeys of the Heart”…

The ups and downs of life teach us many lessons, with those experienced through organ and tissue donation and transplantation being among the most profound. Donor families pass through grief on the way to peace and remembrance; living donors step forward to give love and life to others; and transplant recipients courageously move forward from harrowing illness to health and gratitude. Though our paths vary from the places we start, we are all connected on our Journeys of the Heart.

Inspired by the 2013 Rose Parade® theme "Oh, the Places You'll Go!™," the tenth Donate Life Rose Parade float entry will transport 32 riders representing deceased organ, eye and tissue donors, living donors, and transplant recipients through a magical, heart-filled world encompassing the highs and lows that life has to offer. A pathway of looping hearts is lined with 72 memorial floragraph portraits of deceased donors who are remembered every step of the way. The float's collection of joyful hearts representing the new life made possible by transplantation is grounded by a reverent dedication garden filled with roses bearing personal messages honoring those who make the gift of life possible. The journey peaks with overlapping red and purple hearts representing the love and courage that define humanity at its best.