Newswise — While climbing 94 flights of stairs will make most breathless, this trek will leave Loyola University Health System lung transplant nurse Jennifer Johnson breathing easier knowing that she is raising money for a good cause.
Johnson will join more than 4,000 people for the Hustle up the Hancock this Sunday, Feb. 28. She will take to the stairs at 8 a.m. to raise money for lung disease research, advocacy and education. This will be Johnson’s fourth climb to the top of the John Hancock Center.
“This climb will be an opportunity to push myself just like my patients push themselves every day,” Johnson said. “They will be my inspiration, as I scale the steps and become winded.”
Johnson is part of the largest and most successful lung-transplant program in the state of Illinois. She plays an integral role in obtaining donated lungs for patients who need the organ transplant to survive.
Johnson became involved with the Hustle up the Hancock after former Loyola patient Steve Ferkau, 49, invited her to participate. Ferkau underwent a double-lung transplant in 2000 after suffering from cystic fibrosis for nearly 40 years. With the help of the care he received at Loyola, he was able to make a full recovery. This Sunday, Ferkau will lead a team of 95 people to the top of the Hancock in memory of his organ donor. This climb would not have been possible without the gift of her lungs. To have a Loyola lung transplant nurse by his side throughout this is a great honor, said Ferkau.
“While several people take their time doing the climb, Jen does it as fast as possible, so that she is winded at the finish line,” said Ferkau. “She likes to do this to see what it feels like to be in her patients’ shoes and gasping for breath. This empathy is part of what make her such an amazing nurse.”
This year’s climb hits a little closer to home for Johnson. In August, her husband, Mike, 36, was diagnosed with a rare lung disorder. When she makes it to the top of the Hancock, she hopes he will feel well enough to welcome her across the finish line.
“I never imagined that my experience with lung disease would impact my own family,” Johnson said. “Climbing 1,632 steps is the least I can do to support my husband and my patients who struggle with every breath.”
Johnson has done a combination of cardiovascular exercise and strength training to prepare for the climb. Her personal best is 17:56, and she hopes to do it this year in 16 minutes or less. To date, she has raised approximately $1,250 for this cause.
Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Health & Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Health & Fitness Center and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.
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