Community Corner

Oswego Woman 'Taking Steps' to Honor Mom

In honor of her mother who died from lung cancer, Meghan Duermit is participating in the Hustle Up the Hancock 94-story stair climb hosted by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

Next month, Oswego resident Meghan Duermit, 37, will forego the elevator ride to the top of the Hancock Tower to instead walk the steps of the 94-story building.

She is one of thousands who will be raising funds and awareness for lung disease through the Hustle Up the Hancock event, sponsored by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

For her, the event is personal.

Her mother, Mary Ellen Duermit, was diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer in November of 2007. To help care for her, Meghan Duermit’s own fitness routine and nutritional meals took a backseat.

“I had been going to the gym three to four days a week and that went to once a week, maybe twice,” she said. “And I’m a stress eater, so I was eating and not working out. I gained a lot of weight when I was going through that time.”

Her mother had both chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and to her family’s relief, a scan showed the cancer was not in her lungs anymore. But the following November, she began to have different symptoms, and doctors found cancer had spread to her brain. In January of 2009, she lost her battle with the disease.

After her mother’s passing, Meghan Duermit slowly began to get back into her workout routine and track what she ate. She lost 25 pounds and worked up to walking 100 floors on the Stairmaster. She remembered hearing about a Sears Tower climb years earlier, and posted on her Facebook asking if anyone knew of any other climbs.

“Someone responded back about the Hancock so I did a search and found it,” she said.

The 15th annual Hustle up the Hancock climb is set for Sunday, Feb. 26. Participants hope to raise more than $1 million for Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago's local lung disease research and programs.

Meghan Duermit is looking forward to the event.

“It will definitely be a challenge. My goal is to get up,” she said with a laugh.

Her best climb on the Stairmaster, on Dec. 23, was 268 floors in 60 minutes.

She is participating in the Hustle up the Hancock for her mother and herself.

“I was looking for something with a fitness goal,” she said. “I’m not a runner. I don’t do marathons. But I wanted a goal for me to reach. I would’ve probably done (the Hustle up the Hancock) for anything — the gardening club of America. But when I found out it was for respiratory health I felt this was some sort of a sign saying I should do this because it is for something I can relate to.”

She is also participating on behalf of a friend who struggles with several respiratory issues, and as an Aurora teacher, for her students.

“So many kids I work with are diagnosed with asthma day after day,” she said. “So raising  money for respiratory health and for this great organization does hit home.”

She hopes to make the climb an annual event.

“Whatever I do this year, I hope to raise more money next year and climb faster next year,” she said.

Find her fundraising page by clicking here.


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