Well sort of… and he needs your help!
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I first met Hap in 1999. Shortly after I started at PHA, I staffed an exhibit at the American Thoracic Society conference. Unlike today, when PH sessions can draw more than 1,000 attendees, there were only two sessions for PH that year. One drew 35 medical professionals, the other 50. In my three days of staffing the exhibit, only about a dozen physicians stopped by. (Of course, we only had PHA pencils and a quickly put together fact sheet to hand out!) Hap was one of those physicians. His interest in what we were doing when very few knew about us was really appreciated and a great encouragement.
Since 2003, I have seen him present at Dr. Nick Hill’s annual Updates in Pulmonary Hypertension at Tufts University in Boston, at most of PHA’s International PH Conferences and PH Professional Network Symposia and many other medical meetings. His voluntary teaching is an important asset to building a community that can and is making a difference.
Around 2008, PHA had a much underused message board for
members of our PH Clinicians and Researchers (PHCR) membership group. Then, a doctor
asked for advice on a very complex case. World leaders in the field jumped in
to create an extraordinary discussion, and Hap said, “We should do this
regularly.” It was a great idea… with a lot of potential for a new workload. Sure
enough, Hap was invited to prepare a monthly case for discussion and has been
doing so ever since. It has become an important asset to PH medical education
for almost 800 physicians working in the field.
From all of that, I knew Hap was a very smart guy and a
strong leader in the medical field, but until recently, I had no idea of his
skills in endurance racing. His bio in Wikipedia
tells us that from cycling to marathons (with a lot in between), Hap is a
remarkable athlete, having completed more than 45 marathons, as well as
bicycling events and triathlons.
Like Hap, PH community members across the country are
jumping in to show support of Team PHenomenal Hope’s upcoming race and to raise
funds and awareness of PH. So far, patients, family members, medical
professionals, pharmaceutical industry representatives and others have
committed to 50
events and activities in more than 30 states! The goal
is to have at least one in every state before Team PHenomenal Hope’s Race
Across America.
These events and activities includ PHA National Support Group Coordinator and
PH patient Josh Griffis’ PH
Peddler effort where he is peddling 3,000 miles on a stationary bike, to simulate the distance Team PHenomenal Hope is riding in the Race Across America.
Today the spotlight is on Hap Farber, but there are so many
extraordinary people involved in this effort, people like Josh, Kathleen Richardson, Diane Ramirez and Janet Mabe, Colleen Brunetti, Alex Flipse... and, if you
can, YOU!
I encourage you to look at all the events posted so far and consider what
you can do. If you are unable to do your own event, please consider supporting
one of the heroes who are building awareness and support for better todays and
tomorrows.
If you want to support Hap, I know he will be grateful. So will Josh and the others.
