Dean Barnett died today, at the too-young age of 41. He died of complications from cystic fibrosis, a disease he’d been fighting his entire life. The world is a poorer place without him.
But the thing about CF is that they’re getting closer and closer to a cure, and that’s important to me. Because there’s a young man in my life that will benefit from that cure. If you’ve been reading this blog for any of the last six years, you’ve met that young man. His name is Max.
So reading about Dean’s death saddens me greatly—but it makes me that much more hopeful that by the time Max is 41, we will have found a cure for CF.
I’m asking my readers to donate, not just for Dean, but for Max, and for the 30,000 Americans who have it. And that’s one of the problems: Because CF is so uncommon, it’s not heavily funded, and it’s not heavily publicized. There’s no Jerry Lewis telethon raising millions of dollars every year for CF.
We can’t raise millions. But we can raise thousands. Please give a little bit today. I’m a very selfish person. I want keep Max around for a long, long time.
Done and done.
I too was affected by Dean Baarnett’s passing. My daughter died of CF 8 years ago at the age of 33. I emailed with Dean on occasion and prayed when I heard he was ill on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. I shall now pray for ‘your Max’. I contribute to CF research on a monthly basis as do most of Stacey’s family and friends. She was a gift to us. Phyllis Miller