Nearly 600 attendees, including approximately 300 local firefighters, gathered at loanDepot Park Saturday for the 20th annual Fight for Air Climb to raise funding and awareness for the American Lung Association.
Event organizers said that this year’s climb raised $185,000 for lung disease treatment and research, with more donations coming in throughout the day.
“It gives the common person who doesn’t suffer from lung disease [an idea of] what it truly feels like to struggle for the air,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter and paramedic Peter Berger said.
Berger has participated in the climb for several years, including the last two with his son.
“I get to be with him, and I get to do stuff that I can’t as a kid,” young Asher said, adding that the climb felt more doable this year compared to his first climb in 2023.
Like many of his fellow firefighters, Peter Berger carried nearly 80 pounds of equipment on his back as he climbed each of the 1,700 steps on the Fight for Air Climb course. But unlike the majority of his fellow first responders, Berger has COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs.
“Seventeen years ago, I was diagnosed with COPD as an active firefighter, and about six years ago, I needed to find something that would literally test my lungs to make sure that they worked. The American Lung Association had this climb,” Berger said. “Every year, my lungs get better and better. I’ll never get rid of COPD. But I can manage it now better with the medications that the money we raise is going back to. Ninety percent of all money goes back to research, advocacy, education. All that money helps.”
According to a release, an estimated 2.7 million Floridians have lung disease. But the American Lung Association works to end lung cancer, champion clean air, reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families, and create a tobacco-free future.
Stair climbing also has its health benefits, which is part of the reason why Troy Alston does it competitively.
“How much of an impact did you make?” he said. “Coming out today, I don’t only get to push my limits, but I also get to make a contribution, and it helps make somebody else’s life better, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Alston also set a new course record Saturday.
“Anybody can do it,” he told NBC6. “I mean, it’s not hard. You just have to get started.”
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Jeanette Harrington with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was one of the top fundraisers for this year’s climb. In addition to her firefighting gear, Harrington completed the Fight for Air event with a photo on her helmet of her childhood friend’s mother, who died from COPD in 2018.
“Every year, I try to do it in memory of somebody who has passed, or even those who are ill with lung disease,” she said. “What keeps me pushing is thinking about them and how they’re unable to continue you their fight, and going step-by-step, we’re continuing that fight for them.”
For more information about the American Lung Association and ways to get involved, click here.
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