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Putting a face on lung disease: Bikers ride the N.H./Maine coasts to make a point Tuesday, May 27, 2003 By TERRY DATE Democrat Staff Writer for the PORTSMOUTH TIMES Two years ago she received a double lung transplant. On Sunday, Shirley Dennis crossed the finish line at Pease International Tradeport after two days pedaling her bicycle on the coasts of New Hampshire and Maine in the 18th annual Clean Air Challenge Seacoast Bike Tour. The tour’s 120 participants raised about $60,000 for American Lung Association programs to steer pre-teens away from tobacco use and encourage teens to kick the smoking habit. Dennis and others put a face on lung disease. The Manchester resident has Alpha I Antitrypsin Deficiency, a genetic condition inherited from both parents which causes premature emphysema and liver disease. In 1998 she carried an oxygen bottle on her bike during a fund-raiser tour from Seattle to Washington, D.C. "People were like, ‘What are you doing — you can’t breathe,’" said Dennis on Sunday at a Red Hook Brewery post-tour cookout celebration. "I want you people to see the struggle those with Alpha I, asthma and other lung diseases face every day," said Dennis, recalled her response. Others with lung disease rode in the Clean Air Challenge, from Portsmouth to Ogunquit, Maine, and back, including 10-year-old twin brothers Cody and Nathan Marchand. The brothers have asthma. They rode with their father, Dan Marchand, on a three-person bike — a tandem with an extension. They tallied 57 miles on Saturday and 35 on Sunday. This was their second year participating. "Last year it was raining, it was sleeting, it was freezing rain and snowing," said Cody. Asked what he will remember most about the experience, Dan Marchand said, "Getting my kids involved at an early age in volunteerism." Community service motivated Jonathan Awerbuch of Nashua to ride in the tour. This was the third year of participation for the Nashua High School senior, headed to Dartmouth College in the fall. Awerbuch said a favorite moment of the weekend was Saturday when he cycled down a hill to Route 1A in Hampton and first saw the ocean. "And the air hits you; it’s just amazing," he said, snacking on water melon and brownies after the arduous journey. Maria Langley of Manchester rode in memory of a former neighbor, Winnie Vezina, 49, who died a year ago Sunday from an asthma attack. Before she started the tour, Langley placed a photograph of Vezina on the handlebars of her bike with the words "Riding for Winnie" written on the picture. "You know, so we rode it together," said Langley. Shirley Dennis bicycled Saturday with two nephews, Nate Sliffe of Raymond and John Williams of Concord. On Sunday, she rode with her husband, Todd Borleske. One of Dennis’s fondest memories will be the support she got from those around her. While struggling to keep going on uphill pushes, her husband lent her a helping hand as he pedaled his bike. "My husband would put his hands behind my back and push me uphill," she said. Source: |