Kicks Against Cancer

On a warm summer morning in Naperville, Illinois, 16-year-old Lauren West laced up her soccer cleats. But this time, it wasn’t about the number on the scoreboard — it was about something far more meaningful.

With her teammates by her side and a field full of children ready to learn the game she loves, Lauren launched Kicks Against Cancer, a youth soccer event with one powerful goal: raising funds to support urothelial cell cancer research at Mayo Clinic — a type of bladder cancer her grandfather, Steve Murphy, is currently battling.

An Unbreakable Bond

Lauren has always had a close relationship with her grandfather. Over the years, they’ve spent countless holidays together and made cherished memories on family trips — everywhere from the lush landscapes of Hawaii to the sandy shores of Anna Maria Island in Florida. Along the way, they also built beloved traditions, like their weeklong Nana and Papa Camp, where Lauren would spend a week at her grandparents’ house every summer, soaking in their undivided attention and love.

When Lauren and her family found out her grandfather had been diagnosed with stage 4 urothelial cell cancer, their world turned upside down.

“I remember feeling a wave of fear and confusion. I had never known anyone with cancer before, and I didn’t really understand what it meant. Was he going to be OK? It was overwhelming and scary,” she says.

Kicking Toward a Cure

By the time Lauren and her family learned the severity of her grandfather’s cancer, Jacob J. Orme, M.D., Ph.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, already had a plan in place for Steve’s treatment.

After discovering Dr. Orme’s research focused on finding a cure for urothelial cell cancer, Lauren knew she wanted to combine her passion for soccer with her drive to make a difference.

As a varsity and Elite Club National League travel soccer player, it wasn’t uncommon for parents to ask Lauren to lead private training sessions with their children.

That's when the idea hit Lauren: She decided to organize a charitable soccer camp where proceeds would go toward cancer research at Mayo Clinic. From there, Kicks Against Cancer was born and became a day of hope, teamwork and support for her grandfather and others with cancer.

“I wanted to raise awareness and support not only for my grandpa but for everyone fighting cancer,” she says. “And hopefully, by doing this, I could inspire younger kids who attend the camp to one day give back to a cause close to their heart too.”

Lauren quickly achieved that goal. The day of the event, she experienced an outpouring of support from family, friends and her broader community. It wasn’t only the support of those close to her that moved her — it was also the kindness of complete strangers. Passersby who stopped to learn about what Lauren was doing didn’t hesitate to give, donating on the spot. “That kind of generosity is something I’ll never forget,” Lauren says.

Hope and Healing

That day, Kicks Against Cancer raised more than $10,000, with an anonymous Mayo Clinic benefactor doubling Lauren’s efforts.

“That number represents so much more than money,” Lauren says. “It’s hope, love and a whole community coming together. That was, hands down, the most meaningful and rewarding part of it all.”

In Dr. Orme’s laboratory at Mayo Clinic, a picture of Lauren and Steve hangs on the Wall of Fame — his team’s tribute to the patients and family who are affected by cancer. Dr. Orme says those photos are a constant reminder of why they do this research. “At Mayo Clinic, our patients are our partners,” he says. “People like Lauren inspire us every day to get to work to fight cancer.”

At 16, I’ve learned that you don’t have to be an adult or have a lot of money to create impact — you just have to care enough to act.

— LAUREN WEST

Steve couldn’t be prouder of his granddaughter. He says watching Lauren choose to put others first — at an age filled with the usual distractions of classes, sports, friends and new responsibilities — shows a maturity and compassion well beyond her years.

With the support of his Mayo Clinic care team, Steve has turned an initial six-month prognosis into more than two years of life. He has joined a clinical trial based on Dr. Orme’s discoveries, matching his granddaughter’s efforts to help combat this disease. He continues to make the most of each day, while Lauren is determined to make his journey a catalyst for change.

“At 16, I’ve learned that you don’t have to be an adult or have a lot of money to create impact — you just have to care enough to act,” Lauren says. “Whether it’s raising funds, spreading awareness or simply showing up for a cause, philanthropy is about giving from the heart and doing what you can to help others when they need it most.”

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“My mother would say, ‘Whatever you do, do with your might. Things done by halves are never done right,’” Carla recalls. “She wasn’t saying, ‘Be perfect.’ She was saying, ‘If you put the right effort in, you don’t have to worry about the outcome.’”

The Paonessas have always put in a strong effort when it comes to Mayo Clinic. They have poured their energies into service on leadership councils and as hosts of benefactor events. In addition, they have endowed the chair in Student Life & Wellness at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, supported capital expansion projects, and made a special gift toward the production of Ken Burns’ documentary “The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science.”

“We think Mayo Clinic does healthcare right,” Russ says. “Everyone says that they put the patients first, but Mayo really does. They are patient with the patients and listen well.”

We think Mayo Clinic does healthcare right. Everyone says that they put the patients first, but Mayo really does.

— Russ Paonessa

One gift that holds special significance for the Paonessas is the naming gift they made in support of the library in the Integrated Education and Research Building at the Mayo Clinic campus in Arizona. Russ and Carla are both lifelong learners who spent lots of time in libraries when they were growing up.

“Mayo is going to stay on the cutting edge of education and be the envy of a lot of healthcare institutions, and they’re not afraid to partner with their students,” Carla says. “They listen to what the students say they want in education.”

Russ and Carla both believe that organizations function at their best when everyone feels their voice is valued. They say that Mayo’s team-focused approach — “they don’t tolerate egos” — reminds them of the successful businesses they helped lead. So too does the organization’s embrace of new technologies.

“Mayo Clinic is undaunted by the future, which is tough to do. In medicine, there’s a lot of doing things because, ‘That’s what the book says to do’ or ‘That’s what our protocols say,’” Carla says. “Mayo’s not afraid of growth and stepping out of traditional patterns.”

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“At 95, I can drive and take care of myself,” Isabelle says. “For that, I’m very grateful to Mayo Clinic.”

Isabelle has had her physicals at Mayo Clinic since 1989, and she’s been a Major Benefactor for even longer. While The Mayo Legacy is celebrating its 35th year, Isabelle has been a benefactor for more than four decades.

Isabelle’s connection with Mayo Clinic began when her husband, Lawrence, a Cincinnati builder and developer, hotel owner, and manufacturer of parts for the space program, was diagnosed with cancer in 1984. Lawrence’s cancer wasn’t curable, Isabelle says, but Mayo Clinic helped him live long enough to get his affairs in order.

“It gave me my husband for two more years,” she says.

The couple spent weeks at a time in Rochester during Lawrence’s treatment, and Isabelle fell in love with the “wonderful atmosphere” of the community. “The people of Rochester are proud of Mayo,” she says. “They realize many people visiting there are either going through the clinic or with someone who is in the clinic.”

Our world has changed, but Mayo stays on course, and I appreciate that. It’s wonderful to have somebody you can trust.

— Isabelle Paul

On a walk down Broadway Avenue one day, Isabelle stopped into Ginny’s Fine Fabrics. It was the start of a decades-long friendship with the store’s owner, Ginny Smith. “She’s one of the most delightful ladies I’ve ever known,” Ginny says. Ever since, nearly all of Isabelle’s clothes, which she designs herself, have been made from Ginny’s fabrics.

Isabelle is one of Ginny’s most loyal — and most elegant — customers. “She discovered me when I was first starting out,” Ginny says. “She's one of the reasons I'm still in business.”

Now, wearing Ginny’s fabrics, Isabelle carries a bit of Rochester, and by extension, Mayo Clinic, with her everywhere.

The Beauty of Service

After Lawrence died in 1987, Isabelle decided to devote her life to serving others.

In 2004, Isabelle was invited to join the Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights of Hospitaller, a Christian charity serving the sick and poor. Since Isabelle started the order’s Florida Commandery chapter in 2011, it has supported local organizations including Boca Helping Hands, HomeSafe and Gateway Community Outreach. For her service to the order, Isabelle was recognized as a Dame Grand Cross, the highest honor bestowed by the charity.

“It makes me very happy to be able to help so many people in so many ways,” Isabelle says.

Isabelle also enjoys making art. While quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote icons of the 12 disciples, which are now hung in the chapel of her church.

Isabelle donated valuable antiques to Mayo Clinic’s historical buildings when she moved from Cincinnati to Boca Raton, Florida. At the Mayo Foundation House, two large jade statues adorn the mantel and two Daum glass vases sit on the desk of Dr. Charlie Mayo, co-founder of Mayo Clinic. The lifesize brass knight that greets visitors to Mayowood was also a gift from Isabelle’s collection.

“I love beautiful things,” she says. “It makes me feel good that someone will also get to enjoy them as much as I have.”

In 2018, Isabelle donated the Mayo Ancestors model statue to Mayo Clinic in Florida. She says her support of Mayo Clinic has never wavered because the health system has always stayed true to its mission.

“The patient comes first. They want excellence, and they’re doing that,” Isabelle says. “Our world has changed, but Mayo stays on course, and I appreciate that. It’s wonderful to have somebody you can trust.”

The post Isabelle Paul appeared first on Mayo Clinic Magazine.

In 2004, after a handful of emergency visits at a local hospital for a serious and locally untreatable heart condition, doctors there sent Ann Marie’s mother, Victoria, to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, a six-hour drive from their home in Morris, Illinois.

Mayo Clinic doctors determined Victoria, then 84, needed an aortic valve replacement. Although her surgery was life-threatening because of her age, it was successful, and she lived for 10 more years.

“What do you do when they save your mother’s life?” Ann Marie says. “I would have given Mayo everything I had for what they did for her.”

That’s when Ann Marie and her husband, Paul Jung, became annual benefactors to Mayo Clinic.

NAVIGATING A NEW CHALLENGE

Two years later, Paul, a high school choral music director, noticed a lump on the left side of his neck. Doctors at a local hospital suspected cancer. Paul and Ann Marie traveled to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion, and Paul was diagnosed with a rare stage 4 base of tongue cancer.

Each doctor visit brought more bad news, but Paul and Ann Marie were buoyed by the perseverance of the Mayo Clinic medical team. “They’re always trying to give you the honest truth,” Ann Marie says, “but they still try to give you hope.”

Paul underwent a complex 12-hour surgery at Mayo Clinic Hospital – Rochester, Saint Marys Campus to remove the cancer, which had spread to the opposite side of his neck — while Ann Marie and Victoria waited. “We were the first ones in that surgical waiting room,” Ann Marie says, “and we were the last ones to leave that night.”

After surgery with Jan Kasperbauer, M.D., and his team, Paul remained at Mayo Clinic for six weeks for a full treatment regimen of chemotherapy and radiation. He also agreed to participate in a clinical trial of a targeted therapy for patients with his type of cancer.

Though participating in such a trial presents little risk, some patients decline because they’re already overwhelmed by cancer treatment, says radiation oncologist Paul Brown, M.D., who treated Paul’s cancer and sees him for annual checkups.

We don’t want to be far from a Mayo facility. I know if I go to a Mayo facility, I’m going to be in good hands.

— Ann Marie Struck, D.D.S.

“He’s an altruistic person, so it’s not a surprise that he was willing to enroll in the study,” Dr. Brown says. “You’re doing it to help people in the future.”

At the end of his treatment, after weeks on a feeding tube, Paul couldn’t swallow well and his vocal cords had limited function. It was a devastating blow for a man whose livelihood was singing. “My heart sank,” Paul says. “I said to myself, ‘I’m in this for the long haul.’”

He worked with a speech pathologist and Mayo Clinic’s vocal music therapist to recover some function. Though his voice remains compromised and his swallowing is limited, Paul continued to teach for five more years before retiring in 2011.

Now, Paul is a deacon for the Roman Catholic Church. “If it wasn’t for Mayo,” he says, “I wouldn’t be able to speak and preach.” Paul also sings publicly once a year, performing a solo of the joyous Easter proclamation the “Exsultet” at his church.

RECOGNIZING IMPACT

Ann Marie and Paul, who own a small vacation property in Northern Illinois, consider Rochester their third home. Both see internal medicine doctors at Mayo Clinic, despite the distance.

The couple is so dedicated to Mayo Clinic, in fact, that they have limited their future retirement locale to the three cities where the health system operates: Rochester, Scottsdale or Jacksonville. “We don’t want to be far from a Mayo facility,” Ann Marie says. “I know if I go to a Mayo facility, I’m going to be in good hands.”

Ann Marie, a retired dentist, and Paul have been thrilled to see Mayo Clinic expand its cancer-fighting arsenal with proton beam therapy, a more precise radiation treatment with less toxicity and fewer side effects. At Mayo Clinic, a large percentage of patients with base of tongue cancer are now treated with proton beam therapy, Dr. Brown says.

“With these newer treatment protocols, patients have a better chance of a better functional outcome,” he says. “I’m so thankful for Paul’s support because Mayo Clinic is continuing to try to improve outcomes for patients with head-neck cancer just like him.”

Now Major Benefactors and members of The Mayo Legacy, Ann Marie and Paul say the three shields of Mayo Clinic — representing Clinical Practice, Education and Research — align with their experiences as patients, Paul’s longtime teaching career, and Ann Marie’s interest in medical research.

“We knew Mayo Clinic was the place for us,” Paul says. “Mayo Clinic has been there for us, and we want to be there for them.”

The post Ann Marie Struck, D.D.S., and Deacon Paul Jung appeared first on Mayo Clinic Magazine.

“I’d never been sick a day in my life. Then in March 2023 my whole body started swelling,” Betti recalls. “Nobody could identify the cause. It was a dark time.”

After Betti was admitted to Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona, the answer arrived, in the form of Cushing syndrome.

“Her body was producing too much cortisol,” says Dick Robinson, Betti’s husband. “Her doctors thought the cause was a small tumor in her lung. Her surgeon removed the tumor and a small amount of tissue around it. Everything changed. Betti started feeling better almost overnight.”

While still in the hospital, the Robinsons started discussing a gift in appreciation of Mayo Clinic’s care.

“We wanted to honor the doctors and do something that would help others,” says Dick.

If our gift helps bring in one new researcher who finds one new thing to help people, then it was a huge success.

— Dick Robinson

The Robinsons’ gift helps fund the recruitment of top scientists to Mayo Clinic in Arizona. It honors the team that cared for Betti, which included Staci Beamer, M.D.; Craig Jenkins, D.O.; Laszlo Vaszar, M.D.; and Julia Files, M.D. Mayo Clinic recognizes the Robinsons, who live in Scottsdale, Arizona, as Major Benefactors for their generosity.

“If our gift helps bring in one new researcher who finds one new thing to help people, then it was a huge success,” Dick says.

Recruitment funds like the Robinsons’ gift facilitate life-changing discoveries by helping Mayo Clinic attract top clinicians and scientists and provide them with other support to accelerate their research.

With Betti’s health restored, she and Dick are back to their favorite pastimes: golfing; traveling; watching University of Nebraska football; and spending time with their three sons, three daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.

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“That infuriated me,” Pamela says.

Not ready to give up, Pamela decided to reach out to Mayo Clinic in Florida. She filled out a form for Jack to become a patient and hoped for the best. Then the phone rang.

“One of the most important phone calls you get is Mayo Clinic saying, ‘We’ll accept you as a patient,’” Pamela says. “It was life changing.”

Doctors at Mayo Clinic were direct — Jack was very sick — but they gave the Stanfords hope and direction. Jack’s treatment would include chemotherapy and radiation at home in North Carolina, along with regular checkups at Mayo Clinic.

One of the most important phone calls you get is Mayo Clinic saying, 'We’ll accept you as a patient.' It was life changing.

— PAMELA STANFORD

“I received treatment too, from the standpoint that it kept me sane, kept me grounded,” Pamela says. “To know someone had our back, it was great.”

In April 2008, Jack was among the first patients to have surgery in the newly opened Mayo Clinic Hospital in Florida. The cancer surgery was successful, and Jack lived for 10 years after his diagnosis under the care of Mayo Clinic.

Another Diagnosis

During the worst of Jack’s illness, Pamela’s biggest supporter was her sister, Tommye Barie. Tommye, a Florida resident, joined Pamela at Mayo Clinic for Jack’s surgery.

“I knew the caliber of care he was getting,” Tommye says.

Tommye, a certified public accountant, returned to Mayo Clinic in 2014 — this time as a patient. On a friend’s recommendation, she joined the Mayo Clinic Executive Health Program, which provides individualized, comprehensive care to full-time working executives through timely, coordinated access to multidisciplinary providers.

In 2015, Tommye began to experience brief debilitating headaches. She contacted the Executive Health Program, which connected her with a Mayo Clinic headache specialist. A brain scan found a tumor. With Pamela and Jack on hand for support, Tommye had a craniotomy at Mayo Clinic to remove the mass.

“All you can do is turn it over to the experts and pray,” says Pamela, who now trusted Mayo Clinic with two of the most important people in her life. “I knew Jack and Tommye were in the best hands possible.”

Tommye’s surgery confirmed her tumor was a benign hemangioblastoma. She was home from the hospital within three days.

Jack, who had built a successful insurance brokerage and real estate company and was instrumental in the growth of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, passed away in 2017.

Giving Back

Last year, before her appointment, Tommye strolled the Mayo Clinic campus. She found herself engrossed in a display showcasing The Mayo Legacy, a program for patients, staff and benefactors who have included Mayo Clinic in their estate plans. Tommye thought The Mayo Legacy might be an option for her.

When Tommye returned to the Sarasota condominium she and Pamela now call home — their residences are one floor apart — she told her sister about the inspiring benefactor stories she read. As it happens, Pamela had been considering becoming a benefactor herself.

Since Jack’s surgery, Pamela had been inspired by Mayo Clinic’s groundbreaking medical research program. “We wanted to give somewhere that would truly make a difference in people’s lives,” she says.

Tommye says her confidence in Mayo Clinic’s fiscal responsibility made her decision to give an easy one. “It just felt like the right thing to do,” she says.

When the sisters decided, independently, to become benefactors, they felt a weight lift from their shoulders. “We wanted to do something meaningful with what we worked so hard for,” Tommye says.

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Jerry and his husband, Jon Durham, needed a team that knew how to fight. They left their home in Kalamazoo and drove the eight hours to Rochester, Minnesota, where Mayo Clinic’s care team was ready and waiting.

They met Thor Halfdanarson, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, who is the former president of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society. He proposed an aggressive combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Jerry (on the left in the photo) says the assurance and compassion of his multidisciplinary care team gave him hope throughout the process.

The care and communication from Mayo to us was excellent. It’s powerful the way the teams work together. I felt them fighting for Jerry’s life.

— JON DURHAM

“Cancer is scary enough — and then you add COVID on top of that,” says Jerry. “I never saw my care team’s faces because of the masks, but they were able to build trust in other ways. Their confidence, determination and teamwork were phenomenal. The model that Mayo has should be the model that everyone tries to emulate.”

“The care and communication from Mayo to us was excellent,” Jon adds. “I never felt uncomfortable. It’s powerful the way the teams work together. I felt them fighting for Jerry’s life.”

Jerry remains in remission today and is enjoying time in Michigan and California with Jon, as well as hobbies such as sculpting glass art. One of his pieces hangs in Dr. Halfdanarson’s office, a reminder of his success story.

Recently, Jerry and Jon made a generous undesignated planned gift. Undesignated gifts help ensure that Mayo Clinic can invest in critical initiatives quickly and decisively to have a real-time impact on patients’ needs. Jerry and Jon are recognized as members of The Mayo Legacy for including Mayo Clinic in their estate plan.

“We wanted to do something to say thank you,” Jon says. “This is meaningful for us not only because they cured Jerry’s cancer, but also because of the way they brought us through the journey. They listened, they participated, they fought. Our gift is undesignated because we want to help Mayo keep doing what they are doing.”

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It’s a vision that is close to the couple’s heart, as both have witnessed friends and family pass away from the disease.

“I’ve seen the time, the energy and the emotions that the entire family goes through watching their loved one undergo cancer treatment for months or even years,” says Becky, whose father passed away from melanoma when she was 13 years old. “If we catch the cancer earlier when the treatment isn’t so challenging, it would be life-changing for so many families.”

To help fuel this critical work, Bahman and Becky established the Hoveida Family Foundation Cancer Discovery and Interception Fund through a generous gift from the Hoveida Family Foundation. Becky and Bahman are recognized as Philanthropic Partners.

The fund is helping accelerate Mayo Clinic’s bold vision to revolutionize cancer care. Researchers are using innovative, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled science to detect cancer earlier, intercept and reverse cancer growth, and intervene before cancer progresses to more advanced disease.

The concept of using AI to find solutions to challenges is a process that Bahman understands well. An engineer and businessman, he co-founded a software company, Open Systems International, in Minnesota in 1992. As the company grew, Bahman and Becky never wavered from their commitment to environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing and treating their employees like members of their own family. After selling the company in 2020, the couple formed their family foundation so that they could “keep doing good.”

The Hoveida Family Foundation is focused on the pursuit of science to help humanity and the environment. This includes critical medical research, and Bahman says that Mayo Clinic was at the top of their list. Bahman, who was born in Iran, recalls hearing of the medical organization as a child.

“I knew that the royal family was seen at Mayo Clinic and that it was the great center of medical care in the world, but I didn’t really know much else at the time,” Bahman says.

That all changed in 1999, when Bahman’s father was diagnosed with colon cancer and selected Mayo Clinic for his care.

“The care he got was excellent,” says Bahman. “I was very impressed with the systems in place, and that’s when I realized what a high-quality institution Mayo Clinic was. Healthcare is moving to a high-tech, data-driven industry, and Mayo is pioneering this work.”

Both Bahman and Becky are patients in the Mayo Clinic Executive Health Program, trusting Mayo Clinic with their personal care as they stay connected with the promising research efforts that they’ve helped make possible — including AI-powered breast cancer detection and early pancreatic cancer detection.

Within breast cancer research, a Mayo Clinic researcher and a researcher from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have used funds to develop and test a model that better identifies women who are at high risk and would benefit from preventive measures like lifestyle changes and risk-reducing medications. Next steps will be to validate the model. 

In pancreatic cancer research, a physician researcher and his team have designed an AI Pancreas Cancer Early Detection trial, which is expected to launch later this year. The trial will leverage an AI language model to screen 10,000 patients, identifying those at elevated risk for pancreatic cancer.

“The work in pancreatic and breast cancer is so meaningful to us,” explains Becky. “Just before we gave our gift, we had lost a valued employee and friend to pancreatic cancer. The time from diagnosis to death was so short. I had also recently lost a family member to breast cancer. The idea of using science to diagnose these cancers at an earlier stage is incredibly important.”

The Hoveida Family Foundation Cancer Discovery and Interception Fund is also supporting AI-Powered Science and Discovery Awards in Cancer. This program finds and funds the most innovative concepts and proposals from individuals and teams across Mayo Clinic.

“Mayo Clinic has created a great team of researchers, data scientists and AI experts,” says Bahman. “They have a level of passion that I have not seen anywhere else. If a practical solution comes out of this research to detect cancer even six months ahead of when cancer symptoms manifest, that’s a huge advancement in saving thousands of lives. I have great hopes that Mayo Clinic will be successful.”

Becky agrees, adding that she feels pride in being part of Mayo Clinic’s mission to help people everywhere.

“When Mayo Clinic finds solutions, their goal is to disseminate information across the medical field worldwide and make it available to everyone,” says Becky. “They are helping more than their own patients — they are helping the world."

The post Engineering Earlier Cancer Detection Through AI appeared first on Mayo Clinic Magazine.

On most days, he can be found outdoors — running, biking, swimming, golfing and spending time with his dog. When Parker’s not staying physically active, he’s busy working as a financial analyst or tinkering with side projects like app development as a self-described “tech nerd.”

Things haven’t always looked so sunny for Parker, however. Three years ago, he was fighting for his life.

In high school Parker was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract. He was able to manage the chronic condition for years before a flare-up in 2021.

Parker was traveling to attend a football game in Las Vegas with a friend when he became so ill that he couldn’t leave his hotel room. Parker was in no condition to fly home. He was taken to a local hospital, where he spent the next three weeks as his situation grew dire. Despite his doctors’ best efforts, Parker quickly lost weight and strength.

“Parker’s condition was deteriorating rapidly,” says Henry Lyons, Parker’s father. Henry, who had built a patient relationship with Mayo Clinic, called for help for his son. Parker was then transferred by air to Rochester, Minnesota.

“With his admission to Mayo Clinic, we went from hopeless to hopeful,” Henry says. “We knew he was exactly where he needed to be to save his life.”

At Mayo Clinic, Parker underwent emergency surgery to remove most of his colon.

I was on the brink of death at 26 years old. Only Mayo Clinic could have dealt with the complexity of my situation.

— PARKER LYONS

“Because of my ulcerative colitis I had gotten an extremely rare fungal infection,” Parker says. “The infection had gotten worse to a point that it triggered a very rare, potentially fatal blood disorder.”

The surgery was successful, but Parker needed chemotherapy to eliminate the infection. After two months of treatments, tests and rehabilitation, Parker was finally able to go home.

“I was on the brink of death at 26 years old,” says Parker. “I needed an expert in every capacity ─ someone on the cancer side, the infectious disease side, the blood disorder side, and a team focused on my mental resiliency. Only Mayo Clinic could have dealt with the complexity of my situation.”

In honor of his son, Henry has made a gift supporting medical research and education at Mayo Clinic, ensuring that Mayo Clinic can continue to provide leading-edge care for complex cases like Parker’s. Mayo Clinic recognizes Henry as a Major Benefactor for his generosity.

“I am forever grateful to Mayo Clinic, and in addition to the joy I experience from Parker living a healthy life, I am hopeful that others can benefit from Parker’s case,” Henry says.

Parker is making the most of his restored health. He is training for a half Ironman Triathlon this summer, and he plans to complete a full Ironman by the end of 2025.

“It’s easy to stay inspired when you have my extreme perspective,” says Parker. “I have a ton of gratitude to be physically active. I’m honored. I’m here because of Mayo.”

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That’s one reason the Pounds are so passionate about two causes close to their heart — healthcare and higher education.

When Ralph and Kathy Pounds reflect on their 30-year philanthropic journey, it comes back to loyalty and trust over the long haul, including organizations such as Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where Kathy graduated.

That’s what makes the story of their courtship so unique.

“We had 10 dates over 30 days, then I proposed to her,” Ralph says, smiling. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

It’s reassuring to continue our impact beyond our lifetimes. Our philanthropy is part of the larger relationship we enjoy with Mayo Clinic. The doctors, nurses, receptionists and Development staff are like family to us.

— KATHY POUNDS

So when Kathy suggested early in their marriage they should be helping others as much as they could, Ralph was excited to join in.

“We were blessed to have each other and good jobs, and I thought we ought to be giving back,” Kathy recalls.

The Pounds came to Mayo Clinic in the 1990s when Ralph began experiencing health problems, including digestive issues and swelling in his lips, and his local provider couldn’t figure out why.

“Mayo’s team suggested starting with an allergist, who discovered Ralph was allergic to his blood pressure medication,” Kathy explains. “We changed the medication, and the problems vanished within days.”

The relationship between the Pounds and Mayo Clinic deepened over the years when they learned more about the organization’s mission, and they have generously given to areas including individualized medicine, biomedical research and junior faculty development.

Mayo Clinic recognizes Ralph and Kathy Pounds as Principal Benefactors. In addition, their support will continue to grow for generations to come through multiple endowments that will be established through their estate commitment to Mayo Clinic.

“It’s reassuring to continue our impact beyond our lifetimes,” Kathy says. “Our philanthropy is part of the larger relationship we enjoy with Mayo Clinic. The doctors, nurses, receptionists and Development staff are like family to us.”

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