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Jennifer's mission: swim, bike, run for Alpha-1
Jennifer Swanson will brave cold water, sharp coral and rocky terrain.
Then there will be the internal hazards: muscle fatigue, emotional exhaustion and dehydration.
All this for what?
To honor her father and raise money for Alpha-1 research.
Jennifer’s father was diagnosed with Alpha-1 in 1985, when she was three years old. Doctors told him he would be lucky to see his daughter’s thirteenth birthday. Things took a turn for the worse when his lung collapsed while playing golf one day. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors told him he needed a lung transplant.
Jennifer, of Chicago, is now 25. Her father, at 55, walks or rides his bike every day. Jennifer credits augmentation therapy and advances in Alpha-1 treatment for her father’s ability to remain active. He received a double lung transplant eight years ago, on Dec. 24, 2008, and has been doing well ever since.
“He is now more active than I have ever seen him in my entire life,” Jennifer says on her website.
Now, more than 20 years after her father’s diagnosis and grim predictions for his future, Jennifer is doing something to help advance research efforts for Alpha-1. After training for six months, Jennifer plans to compete in the Chicago Accenture Triathlon on August 24, 2008. She has set up a first giving website where people can sponsor her on her quest. Jennifer hopes to raise $5,000. The money will go directly to the Alpha-1 Foundation to support its research efforts.
The race will start at Monroe Harbor, in the waters of Lake Michigan, for the swim portion of the triathlon. In the past, water temperatures in Lake Michigan have ranged from the low 50s to the low 70s; Jennifer hopes it’ll be closer to the latter.
The athletes will start out on the beach’s rocky bank and swim out into the 6-8 foot waters for just under a mile. Then they bicycle 24.8 miles on a rugged course, before finishing the race with a 6.2-mile run.
Jennifer’s last visit to the doctor showed a low level of alpha-1 protein. But she feels confidant that as long as she continues to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle, and as treatment methods improve and technology advances, her life will continue to be long and healthy. That’s why she’s raising money for Alpha-1 research.
She says she appreciates every donation, in any amount: “Every bit helps.”
Click here: to visit Jennifer’s First Giving page.
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