Stair Climb for American Lung
Not one to turn down an opportunity to talk about asthma, Kitty and Hubby and I went to our local American Lung Association fundraiser. They had asked Kitty to hand out medals to the finishers of the stair climb of an office tower.
Now this is no ordinary office tower, it's 23 floors, so people had the chance to climb all 23 flights of stairs, then get a medal at the end. Some crazy people were climbing it multiple times. Kitty and Hubby climbed it 3 times, so that would equal 69 flights of stairs.
However, there were those crazy people that climbed for HOURS, some were doing the 23 stories over 20 times. That's equal to 460 stories.
And, not to be outdone, there were fire fighters who wore their full gear, including their mask and oxygen tank, and climbed all 23 stories. Someone said their gear weighs 60 pounds, that's like carrying a small child up 23 stories. They are amazing, many of them collapsed to their knees and their fellow fire fighters helped take their gear off. Others promptly threw up in a nearby garbage can.
It was surprising to see how the stair well smelled like smoke, and I wondered how many of the firefighters had asthma. Or were they just doing this for the glory of their crew?
I can't imagine being a firefighter and having asthma. Of course they wear their masks that help them breathe through the smoke, but even their uniforms filled the stairwells and finish area with the smell of smoke. How are they able to breathe through that?
I and my family would like to thank all of the firefighters, not just for putting out fires and saving lives. But for doing a job that those of us with asthma would never be able to do.
These crazy, over active lungs of ours would seize up at the first snell of smoke.
So, thank you to all firefighters, for endangering your lives, and being able to tolerate smoke on a regular basis. I thank you and my lungs thank you.
Sincerely,
My Life as an Asthma Mom