Pacin’ Parson reaches 500-mile mark in fight against deadly disease
Published 11:20 am Friday, February 5, 2016
For the Reporter
Don Stevenson has reached the halfway mark of his 1,000-mile benefit and awareness walk for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA).
The retired pastor from Auburn is walking at least 20 miles a day throughout Western Washington, with a walker and an oxygen tank to demonstrate the plight of many PH patients.
Stevenson started the walk on Jan. 4, his 80th birthday. Just two weeks later on Jan. 12, his friend, Dorothy Fitch, to whom he dedicated the walk, lost her life to PH.
PH is high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs — a debilitating, incurable disease that affects the functioning of the heart and can lead to death from heart failure. Without treatment, the average survival time is 2.8 years. With symptoms that include shortness of breath, fatigue and fainting, PH is often misdiagnosed as asthma or other less-threatening illnesses.
“We are so grateful that the Pacin’ Parson is so caring and passionate that he is taking such measures to bring more attention and funding to help us fight PH,” said Rino Aldrighetti, PHA’s president and CEO. “PHA is a national nonprofit that relies on donations to fund its many programs, including the nation’s largest PH patient and caregiver support group network, lifesaving early diagnosis awareness and education programs, specialty care resources and research to find ways to prevent and cure PH. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, we hope people will find it in their hearts to support the Pacin’ Parson in his fundraising journey.”
A former U.S. Marine, Stevenson earned his Pacin’ Parson moniker for completing many charity walks over the years. Last September, after nearly four months, he finished a 3,000-mile cross-country walk from Washington state to the Washington, D.C. area, raising nearly $10,000 in donations and pledges for PHA.
He walks six days a week, taking Sundays off to rest, and expects to complete his birthday charity walk in mid- March. Stevenson is part of the national PHA Team O2 breathe, made up of individuals throughout the country who challenge themselves with endurance events to raise funds for the nonprofit.
PHA asks donors to help Stevenson raise funding by going to www.O2breathe.org and clicking on the name Don Stevenson.
For more information, go to www.PHAssociation.org, @PHAssociation on Twitter or www.facebook.com.
