At the beginning of each school year, the DECA chapter gets together to decide what written project we could work on. Taylor and I were assigned to the Community Service Project. Our adviser, Ralph, didn't tell us what we were going to raise money for or anything. We had to come up with our own benefit and raise money for it.
Ralph had a son named Rex that was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at birth. He lived through his life with this disease, having to go to the hospital if he even caught the small common cold. When he was 14 the doctors removed the upper lobe of his right lung, From that point the doctors were talking of the day when Rex would need a lung transplant. The doctors goal was to keep him alive up until he was eighteen where survival rates from a transplant jump from 30% to 90%. When Rex turned eighteen the doctors found that he would not only need one lung, but two. He had a 14% lung capacity. The doctors dug deeper, Rex's liver was not in good shape. If he were to go into a surgery to get two new lungs, his liver would not be able to handle the stress of the transplant and would quit functioning. So it was deemed that Rex would receive a double lung and liver transplant. The transplant would take place in St. Louis where the family of four would have to split up for six months or more. The mother, Carol, and Rex would live there until the organs became available and then six months after that for recovery.
Taylor and I knew this story and we knew what we needed to benefit. Rex was 20 when Project T-Rex started. We set up different activities to raise money, car shows, spaghetti dinner, a fundraiser night at Costa Vida, and multiple others. Through these fundraisers and various anonymous donors we raised $50,988. This money would help pay for the family's living expenses in St. Louis.
When I met Rex it was a year ago today (St. Patrick's Day) and my first impression was "This kid is way to happy to be in his condition" But then I realized that that's what made Rex happy, was his condition. Cystic Fibrosis is what made Rex Rex. He has gone through so much in his life. One day I asked him how he could be so happy all the time and he shared my all time favorite quote with me "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it, you can either laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh, crying gives me a headache!" -Sister Hinckley. He then told me that if he was always a downer on things he would always be in pain. He told me "Pain is all in the head, if I let myself think that nothing is wrong with me and trust that I will be able to live my life normally, yeah, sure I'll be in the hospital each time I get sick but that never stops me from being happy."
Rex is someone I strive to be like more and more everyday. Sadly, Rex died back in November. He finally took his first deep breath. All I need to know to make me happy is that I know he died happy.
That was Project T-Rex. It changed my life and gave me a new appreciation for service.
