Why I ride for the American Lung Association

I am riding my fourth Big Ride to raise money for the American Lung Association and to celebrate the lives of people like Asher McGirt, now 13 years old, who suffered severe lung damage after contracting Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Asher had a double lung transplant at Texas Children’s Hospital in July 2007 and has made a remarkable recovery. He is now back home in North Carolina.

And I ride to honor the following men and women who have also battled lung disease:

Russell Alexander who suffered from reactive airway disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and died in 2006 from Islet Cell pancreatic cancer;
Maggie Bach who has had two lung transplants in a successful attempt to stay alive after being diagnosed with severe emphysema;
Peggy Berdoulay who died of lung cancer in 2006;

Jim Bryan who started smoking when he was eleven years old and quit in his early 60s. Now at 78, emphysema makes it difficult for him to walk from his chair to the bathroom;
Howard Curtis, Jr. who died of emphysema in 1999;
Robert Curtis, 60-year-old son of Howard, who is suffering from emphysema and still addicted to nicotine;
Connie who recently stopped smoking;
Nana Cooper who died of emphysema many years ago;
Rose DiBona who has been rendered disabled by severe asthma and had to quit her government job when her bosses, in blatant disregard of the Clean Indoor Air Act in her state, opened a smoking lounge in the “green” building in which she worked;
Liz Dols, 28-years-old, who underwent a pneumonectomy on 2/6/07 for advanced lung cancer and is now considered cured;
Joyce who is fighting advanced lung cancer and continuing to surprise her doctors by beating the odds;
Phyllis Gill diagnosed in 2005 with lung cancer and back to normal life after surgery;
Miriam Gordon who died of cystic fibrosis at 15 years old, Frieda Gordon Dillo who suffers from asthma and loves the outdoors, and Wilhelmine Dillo who died of emphysema at age 69 (three generations of women suffering from lung disease);
Dot Grimm who lost her battle with lung cancer in 2007;
Ron Hudson who is suffering from emphysema and lymphoma;
Lester Irvin who died of COPD (emphysema);
José Maria Jordá who died of lung cancer at a young age;
Dieter Liesche, a lifelong heavy smoker, who died at age 53;
Jennifer Longstaff who has Alpha-1Antitrypsin Deficiency and completed the 2004 Big Ride Across America and 2006 Big Ride Glacier with only 60% lung capacity;
Roger Nelman who died of lung cancer;
Bill Reid who died of lung cancer on March 9, 2005;
Jackie Reimer, who is suffering from lung cancer;
John Rosell, who is currently being treated for lung cancer;
Jim Ross recently diagnosed with lung cancer;
Betty Shaw, who died of lung cancer that spread to her brain;
Susana Stettri Sawrey diagnosed in 2005 with lung cancer and leading a normal life after surgery and chemo;
Jeanette Thomas who suffers from exercise-induced asthma and completed the 2004 Big Ride Across America and the 2006 Big Ride Pacific Coast;
Mary Virginia Tisue who died of lung cancer at 55;
Toshiko Wagner undergoing chemo and radiation for a cancerous lymphoma preventing her from her from breathing naturally;
Bert Walsh whose long battle against lung disease ended in 2005;
Laura Wolfson who is fighting lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease striking women in childbearing age.