News Rounds - Volume 40, Number 7
August 2000
Grateful patient falls for Rush
Free-falling fundraiser
Skydivers for Multiple Sclerosis is not your average fund raiser - unless your idea of average is a group of people jumping out of airplanes for a good cause. But then, there's nothing average about Ken Adams, the Rush patient who inspired this unique fund raising endeavor.
The 36-year-old Adams, who first fell in love with skydiving at 17, was diagnosed with MS three years ago. At first glance, you probably wouldn't guess that he has the disease. He is in peak physical shape, with the kind of healthy glow that can only come from spending a lot of time outdoors.
But look closer and you'll notice Adams' hands sometimes shake, and that one leg drags slightly when he walks. There are days when he can barely get out of bed. But like many others who have the disease, he has learned to roll with the punches. In spite of his physical limitations, he travels frequently and engages in a variety of challenging activities - including skydiving.
When Adams learned that he has MS, the tightly knit skydiving community rallied around him. Two friends from Chicagoland Skydiving in Hinckley Il, Leslie Cole and Tamara Roth, organized a fund-raiser to help Adams
pay for costly medications and treatments.
Skydivers for MS raised $10,000.00 in 1998 and $18,000.00 in 1999. But when Adams refused to accept the money for himself, the group decided to donate the proceeds to the Illinois chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society so it could be used to aid in research to find a cure for the disease.
Proceeds from the third annual Skydivers for MS event, help June 24-25, will be used to set up a Free Care Fund at Rush - where Adams is a patient of Steven Lewis, MD - to help patients suffering from MS who cannot pay for treatments.
"I decided to give the money to Rush this year because Dr. Lewis and all of the staff here have been so terrific in caring for me. They don't just treat MS, they treat the whole person, which is important because the disease affects everything about you, not only your physical state," Adams says. "By creating this type of perpetual fund we'll be helping many people who can't otherwise afford their treatments."
This year's goal is $25,000.00, the minimum amount necessary to establish a perpetual fund, and so far almost $20,000.00 has been collected. Money was raised in several ways. Experienced skydivers collected pledges, the participating skydiving operations donated a portion of the money made from student skydivers and individuals contributed through direct donations. There was also a live auction and a raffle of everything from skydiving equipment to a year's worth of free skydives.
The event was help at Chicagoland Skydiving in Hinckley and Archway Skydiving Center in Vandalia, IL. Though unrelenting rain washed out Saturday afternoon's jumps, it did little to dampen the spirits of the many people who came to support the cause and experience the thrill of skydiving.
Nearly 300 professional and student skydivers took to the skies that weekend - including Adams, who made his jump on Sundat. "The support," he says, "was overwhelming." So overwhelming that he's already looking ahead to next year's event, which he promises will be the best yet.
Of Course, Adams does not know what his physical state will be at this time next year. With MS, there are no roadmaps. But he faces each day boldly, determined to live his life on his terms in spite of the question marks. Even those who don't know him well realize that it's simply not in his nature to stand quietly aside while the world goes by - not when he could be free falling in a clear, blue sky at 13,000 feet.
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To make a contribution to the Free Care Fund at Rush, contact Mari Philipsborn in the Section of Philantropy at ext. 26113.
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Published for Rush employees by the Office of Philanthropy and Communication
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