The day after our racing adventure, we headed to downtown Chicago to see Colin's uncles in the Chicago Triathlon. Uncle Bryan was competing in the triple - three tris in 24 hours. Insane, I know. Uncle Mark was competing in the tri for Team CF. Both did great and we're always proud to see them doing their part to find a cure.
At the finish line, we bumped into Steve Ferkau. I doubt it was a total accident, Steve probably saw the CFF banners or knew someone competing. Steve is an amazing guy. Probably one of the most uplifting people we know, in fact. Steve has cf and about nine years ago, received new lungs. He was at 10% capacity at the time, wheelchair bound, and the outlook wasn't good. He had been passed over or the opportunity fell through a number of times for other lung transplants for him. Then, he received his gift. Unlike some transplants, this wasn't just an insert of a new organ and Steve went on his merry way. Steve received his lungs from a teen in Iowa who was killed in an accident. Steve made the connection with the family and to this day he carries around pictures and articles of the girl that saved his life. Within a couple months of the new lungs, Steve was climbing stairs at work that seemed an Everest to him in the past. Not only that, but he started doing the stair climbs in Chicago: Aon, Hancock, etc. He leads Kari's Klimbers in those stair climbs and raises a lot of money for organ transplant organizations. He tells this story way better than I do, so I encourage you to check it out here. And I highly recommend that you stop and talk to him the next stair climb you see him at. You'll never talk to a happier, more upbeat person.
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