Lung Transplant Recipient Prepares For 10th Hancock Climb

CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — Next month, more than 4,000 people will climb 94 floors all the way to the top of the John Hancock Center to raise money for breathing problems, and one man knows what it’s like to gasp for air.

As CBS 2’s Susan Carlson reports, Steve Ferkau is getting ready for his 10th climb this year, and he proves the sky is truly the limit.

“I have cystic fibrosis,” Ferkau said. “It’s a genetic disease that I was born with.”

Ferkau struggled to breathe until he had a double lung transplant in 2000. Despite his challenges, for the past nine years he’s managed to reach the top at the Hustle up the Hancock.

But he’s not in it for the notoriety, or even the fact that he’s raised more $250,000 for the Respiratory Health Association.

“I’ve always done this to tell people about Kari,” Ferkau said.

Kari Westberg is the 17-year-old girl whose lungs Ferkau now uses to breathe. The day before her junior prom, the Iowa girl died of an aneurysm.
Read more: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/27/lung-transplant-recipient-prepares-for-10th-hancock-climb/