Flying for Kids with Cystic Fibrosis
11 November 2011 - Sydney father, Matthias Fuchs recently embarked on a challenge that most people would baulk at, spending more than a week on planes and in airports around the world, with no sightseeing to be heard of.
The flying enthusiast and business manager at Boral has combined his love of flying with his want to help the clinic that treats his daughter - 9 year old Kristen, a cystic fibrosis sufferer.
The combination resulted in the trip of a lifetime: a nine-day flight, touching down in six continents, spending 150 hours in the air across more than 120,000kms.
Ports of call during the trip include Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, London, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Bangkok, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, and Gove.
The goal: to raise a dollar for every kilometre travelled for the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.
BMD, a major supporter of the Flying for Kids with Cystic Fibrosis challenge, is proud to congratulate Matthias on his extraordinary achievement, with well over $130,000 raised and counting as he completes his final leg of the journey back into Sydney this evening.
"Going nine days without sleeping in a bed and getting in and out of aeroplanes will be worth it - the money I am raising will make an enormous difference by buying a lung function analyser called a Mass Spectrometer. This machine will be used by doctors to assess lung function of children in a non-invasive way and allow early detection of lung damage. Currently, to achieve a similar result children require a general anaesthetic and exposure to radiation," Fuchs said.
"Not a day goes by where I don't think about Kristen and the battle she faces, but knowing she is cared for by the terrific team at the CF Clinic, gives my wife and I tremendous comfort."
Throughout the initiative, BMD senior management and supporters met with Fuchs at airports around Australia. Matthias was extremely grateful for the support, and, more importantly, some human interaction.
"BMD team, thank you very much for taking the time to visit me at all the Australian airports. It was terrific to meet you all for a chat. Certainly better conversation than I am getting out of that Mack Truck [other major sponsor] toy dog I am carrying around!" Fuchs said.
Cystic Fibrosis is a disease which affects the lungs and digestive system with repeated infections leading to lung damage and eventually respiratory failure or other complications.
In Australia, a child is born with cystic fibrosis every four days. There is no cure and almost one million Australians carry the CF gene.
Advancements in management of the disease have increased the average life span from 10 years of age in the 1970s to mid-thirties in 2011.
Fuchs attributes the increasing life expectancy and quality of life to the work of the world class clinics such as that headed by Dr Peter Cooper at the Children's Hospital at Westmead.
