by Marta Kurth
What are the chances? My late husband was a career Marine and we are a proud family. Never did I dream I would be going door to door seeking donations for the COTA for Adam Kurth transplant fundraising campaign. But Adam is my 18-year old grandson.
Asking for help is not in our DNA, yet I am talking to neighbors on the street where Adam lives and is recovering. I presented them with a letter and explained about the cholangitis diagnosis that required the liver transplant to save his life and then the unexpected lymphoma cancer found in his own removed liver necessitating immediate chemotherapy.
Among our neighbors, a few have known Adam from grade school, but most do not even know who lives next door. After two hours in the afternoon Arizona heat, there were only eight doors left to knock on, and I decided to take a break. At 4 pm, I reluctantly went out again to visit the remaining houses—not wanting to go. Yet, I was driven to finish what I had started, and my late husband always said, “Marines never give up!”
At the very first house I went to, I was overwhelmed with an amazing surprise that I almost can’t believe happened—but it did. The man and woman were very kind. We talked about Adam, and they offered their prayers for him. I explained that we were striving for raising $25,000 within a so many weeks in order to be awarded a $2,500 challenge grant from COTA, and we that were almost halfway there.
The man said to wait a moment and then came back to the door and handed me nine $100 bills. He then told me why he was so attuned to Adam’s struggle. His first wife had gone through two lung transplants and lived for many years afterwards. He understood the tremendous expense of transplant surgeries and medications. Since she later passed away from cancer, he also knew the pain and suffering of chemotherapy treatments.
So, strangers—not even a friend or a friend of a friend—were that generous to us. We all become disheartened with people at times, but this act of love and kindness out of the blue reaffirms the genuine goodness of people. Since then, Adam has talked with this couple, and now we are blessed to call them friends.
Their donation pushed Adam’s COTA campaign past the halfway mark, and we need to press on to meet our goal with all the other fantastic people out there. Not many of us can give $900, but even small donations add up fast.
Thank you for your gifts of love, prayers and kindness!
—Adam’s Grandma Marta and the entire Kurth family