It’s almost time for the Milwaukee Fight for Air Climb – one of the biggest fundraisers for the American Lung Association.
Kelsey Michalsen is getting ready with some heavy weight – but we’re not talking about dumbbells. She’ll be doing the Climb in her full firefighter gear, which weighs about 90 pounds in total.
“We actually have a hose tower at work that is six stories, so I climb up and down that a couple times every shift that I work,” Kelsey says.
As an EMT and firefighter, the fight against lung disease is really important to Kelsey.
“Firefighters are actually twice as likely to get cancer. Lung cancer is in the top of those types of cancers that we get,” she says. “We climb in our full gear at an event like this because we’re raising awareness of this being such a common thing that happens to us.”
And lung disease hits closer to home for Kelsey than just her job. Her mother was intubated when she caught COVID-19, and Kelsey herself has asthma.
“It was…a challenge because I had to do this to show people that I’m more than my lung disease.”
So, training is really important.
“I have some days where my asthma is really bad, and it is difficult to keep going on,” Kelsey says.
But there’s no better motivation than the community atmosphere at American Family Field.
“You see someone passing by and you cheer them on a little bit, saying, ‘keep going! You’ve only got a little bit left!’” Kelsey says. “And it’s almost like you don’t want to rest because you want to keep doing it with each other.”
If you’d like to get involved with the Fight For Air Climb, just follow this link.
You’d be a part of a huge effort – last year’s climb raised $467,000. 90% of that goes straight back to research, programming and awareness around lung disease.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
