Annie McMahon

To All of My Friends and Colleagues,

As most of you already know by now, there is a beautiful little girl, Annie McMahon, who lives next door to me and suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. For the past 9 years Annie’s friends and family have held several fundraisers, including a “Walk for the Cure” and a “Plunge for the Cure” in a race against time to find a cure for this relentless disease before it takes Annie from us. Since I last wrote you in January, Annie has continued to suffer and struggle with a disease that doesn’t care that she is just a kid.
About a week ago, Annie was accepted in to the Vertex 770 Study at Long Island Jewish Hospital that is testing an experimental, and promising, new drug treatment that does not yet have F.D.A. approval. That is the good news, and offers a ray of hope where none previously existed. The bad news is that Annie was just barely healthy enough to be accepted into the program and it is too soon to tell how she will respond.

Quite frankly, I can’t seem to get my arms around “hope” anymore. I can’t allow my brain to accept the fact that we can’t find a cure. I can’t allow my heart to stop feeling horror at what this kid is going through.  And most of all, I can’t allow my eyes to see this happen right in front of me without doing something to help.

And I am pretty much willing to do anything, as any of you have seen the pictures of me “plunging” in my kilt can attest. Those pictures help raise over $30,000 last year, mostly due to the fact that people were willing to donate just so they wouldn’t have to look at the pictures anymore!!!!!!  So, if the camera ain’t  broke…..I will be “plunging”, again, in my kilt, on February 6th, 2010.

I know this is an imposition and I realize that this is a very difficult time for everyone. But I would like to think that the people I send this letter to every year are not offended by my asking, and will give if they are able. This annual fundraiser has become increasingly more personal to me as the years race by. But this is my obligation, and you are under no obligation to contribute. Every dollar that I raise is given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and every dollar gives Annie a better chance. All donations are tax deductible and all checks should be made out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Thank you for listening.

Jimmy O’Connor.