how matty's spending his fifteen minutes to benefit the lives of others

as i was watching my 8,237th consecutive hour of college hoops, i checked my hotmail account and found an e-mail from matty, my buddy who survived the fall down mount hood weeks ago.

he's gonna be on "ellen" this week. they film monday. not sure which day it'll air.

anyways, he's utilizing his fifteen minutes of fame to do something worthwhile - namely, organizing a large-scale fundraising effort to support the true heroes of the hour, the search and rescue volunteer group that rescued them when they needed them most.

if you're in portland, check out the new lucky lab brew pub in nw prtland on thursday, march 29. they're having a drinkup and fundraiser to help out.

if not, check out missvelvet.net - especially matty's account of the ordeal. it's harrowing, scary and powerful. he's one lucky dude, and he knows it. slowly but surely, he's working his way through it.

i couldn't imagine what that's like.

anyways, the e-mail and website took me a good thirty minutes to read when i realized that i was now twenty minutes late to pick up the dinner i ordered. then again, it's a salad. it's already cold. no problem. so i began my walk to the cafe and spent my time thinking about the whole thing.

simply put, matty's asking for donations for the volunteer group that saved him and also to help out with his friend's medical bills. the cynical new yorker in me said, "why should that burden be on me? it's not my fault it's a volunteer effort." (i play a lot of devil's advocate in my mind).

of course, i'm a softie that will do anything for my friends, big or small. still, i debated. hell, i think about everything. if you read this blog, you understand how obvious that statement was.

that's when i saw the first shooting star i've ever seen in my life.

seriously.

my first.

i grew up in a city. what do you want from me?

i thought it was a UFO at first. when it faded out, i realized what it was i saw, and tried to remember what it was they said about shooting stars. i couldn't remember.

then i thought that matty should thank his lucky stars that there's a volunteer group out there that saved his life.

then, two seconds later, i centered myself, and thought that i should thank my lucky stars that there's a volunteer group out there that saved my friend's life.

so i'm donating. honestly, i was gonna do so anyway because my friend asked this of me, but now my head is clear around it.

it's not my burden, but it's my gratitude.

whether you know him or not, or even care or not, there are times when you have to rely on the generosity of strangers, of volunteers, of good samaritans. maybe they're not mount hood rescue groups, but these people are all born from the same fiber. and you might not even know they existed until you need them the most.

all i ask from you is to think about it, if not them, then someone else.

here's two worthy causes:

Christina Redl Fund
c/o Jason Guppy
0301 SW Nebraska St.
Portland, OR 97239

or

Portland Mountain Rescue
Fundraising Chair
PO Box 5391
Portland, Oregon 97228-5391

thank you.

how his website has a much bigger purpose

i got this e-mail from my good friend edmund, who is currently fighting prostrate cancer:

The next step is to look beyond the confines of my current hospital (UCSF) and cast a wider net to try to find an appropriate clinical trial at another hospital. That could be California, the East Coast or even across the pond where they speak funny and stick ‘U’s where they just don’t belong. I’ve a small and highly motivated team helping me sift through the vast array of trial options, filter out ones of relevance, contact the hospitals concerned and sweet talk trial coordinators.

As 90% of the trials are just not suitable for one reason or another it can be a demoralizing effort, but the team I’ve assembled were mostly chosen for their dogged determination, never say never attitudes and ridiculously optimistic dispositions...So far they’ve helped me come up with a number of interesting options, which my Doc is weighing in on, and then further steps will be taken down application process lane.

To help the process a friend has created a website. It was originally conceived to assist relevant parties gain access to my full medical history. It has grown from that and now includes Abba songs sung in Hindi. All are welcome to visit and leave their mark – it’s a work in progress and constantly evolving. For a furious mix of facts, medical details and frivolity visit:

edmundwalshe.com.

please check it out. if you've got something to add, then please, add it. it's for a good cause, the least of which is cheering up my friend and taking his mind off of bigger things.

get well, my good friend.