Her
name is Annie, she's
13 and she needs
help.
Annie McMahon
suffers from cystic
fibrosis, an
insidious disease
with no cure that
causes thick, sticky
mucus to form in the
lungs and pancreas,
triggering chronic
infections.
She takes 30 pills a
day - antibiotics,
steroids, special
fat-absorbing
enzymes. She does
two hours of
nebulizer treatments
a day. Every three
months, she
undergoes an
intravenous drip
four times a day for
three weeks to
battle this
inherited disease
that has given her a
life expectancy of
37 years.
When Annie was first
diagnosed 11 years
ago, that life
expectancy was 24.
So there's steady
progress. Every
year, research and
new drugs have added
another year to
Annie's
life
expectancy. The hope
is that by the time
she's 37, that
number will have
grown much higher.
Or there might be a
cure.
But the biotech
companies don't
invest heavily in
cystic fibrosis
research because it
affects only one in
every 100,000
people. So this
isn't a profitable
disease. That's why
the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation (CFF)
funnels money
directly for
research into a
cure. Annie's in a
trial for a new drug
called VX 770 that
could reduce her
treatments to two
tablets a day
instead of 30, and
might cut her
intravenous
treatments to once a
year.
This research costs
a fortune.
And that's why Annie
and some 30,000
other Americans with
CF need help.
And that's why every
year for the past
decade, a throng of
Queens crazies -
good people crazy
about Annie and this
wonderful thing
called life - show
up for A Plunge for
the Cure, a mad
polar bear dash into
the frigid waters
off Rockaway in the
first week of
February.
Followed, but of
course, by a party
filled with music,
food and grog to
raise money for the
CFF, which passes on
91 cents of every
dollar to research.
In Queens, this is
called throwing a
racket. When it's a
racket for a sick
kid, the crowd grows
bigger every year,
the goodness gushing
out of the big
thumping heart of
New York. FDNY Capt.
Rick Ferro leads a
stampede of
firefighters from
the firehouses of
Brooklyn and Queens
into the plunge.
Annie's mother,
Theresa McMahon,
says the idea for
the plunge-raiser
came 11 years ago,
after a pal bet her
husband, John, that
he wouldn't dip into
Lake George in the
winter. He did.
When Annie told her
Rockaway friend Jim
Mullen about, it he
said it was a crazy
enough idea to raise
money for CF in
Annie's name.
Theresa, whose
grandmother and
sister live in
Rockaway, and whose
mother lives in
Breezy Point, knew
that the people in
this community were
bighearted, but she
was shocked that
first year, when 50
plungers showed up
and a few hundred
partyers raised
$19,000.
"Last year, we had
300 plungers and 500
at the party, and we
raised $150,000,"
Theresa says.
This year, the
Plunge for the Cure
will take place
Saturday in St.
Camillus Gym, 185
Beach 99th St.,
Rockaway.
Registration is from
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.,
the plunge is from 2
p.m. to 2:01 p.m.
and the party is
from 2:15 p.m. to 6
p.m., with music
provided by deejay
James Tubridy.
Plungers get free
admission frwith a
$75 sponsorship;
landlubbers gotta
pay $50 at the door.
Oh, and no skinny
dipping.
"Annie will give a
speech, thanking all
these great people,"
says Theresa, who
will be with her
husband, John;
daughter Kathryn,
11, and twins Claire
and Meagan, 6.
"Annie, in a word,
is amazing. She's
the sick one, but
she's the family
inspiration. She
insists on living a
normal kid's life.
She excels in school
and plays
volleyball,
basketball, runs
track. Which is
great because it
helps clear her
lungs. She was
really sick the
other night, but
insisted she
couldn't miss a
friend's party. She
takes her own
medicine
religiously, even
preparing the IV
treatments."
Theresa says that
when Annie was 16
months old, she
couldn't keep food
down and wouldn't
stop coughing.
"The doctor tested
for CF," Theresa
says. "She was
positive. We were
shocked. Devastated.
Neither my husband
or I had CF. But
amazingly, we were
both carriers."
Once over the shock,
Theresa and John
worked as a medical
tag team for their
little Annie and
began raising money
for the CFF in walks
and the plunge. This
year's plunge could
put their efforts
over the $2 million
mark.
"The feel-good vibe
at the party is like
nothing you've ever
experienced,"
Theresa says. "All
these wonderful
people charge out of
the freezing ocean,
laughing, exploding
with life, eating,
drinking, dancing to
help save my Annie's
life.
"If you're feeling
depressed about
anything, come to
this party and I
promise you'll leave
smiling."
For information,
visit
www.rockawayplunge.com.
Or call Jim Mullen
at (718) 474-8062.
dhamill@nydailynews.com
