Lung Health News, Fall 2004 / Winter 2005
When Michael Daniel Maiello headed into the dark of night on his Harley Davidson at 12:01 a.m. on July 27 he was a man on a mission. The motorcycle enthusiast and father of a 2-year-old rode from Canada to Mexico in less than 36 hours to raise awareness about pediatric asthma and the American Lung Association’s upcoming Asthma Walks.
“I had always wanted to do an endurance ride, but I wanted to do it for a reason,” says Maiello. “So when I found out how prevalent asthma is, how it’s affecting our children and how scary it can be for families, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Ride for asthma.”
With a banner across the side of his Harley that read “Fighting Pediatric Asthma One Mile at a Time,” Maiello rode down Interstate 5 from the Canadian border through three U.S. states and into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing. Along the route he told everyone he met that he was riding to fight the asthma epidemic.
“Fortunately, my son doesn’t have asthma,” he says. “But so many do.”
Asthma is the number one chronic illness among children under age 5 and a leading cause of hospitalizations and school absences. Asthma has reached epidemic proportions with an estimated 2.5 million Californians having the lung disease, including nearly 1 million children.
Blowing the Whistle in California
Maiello did the ride in part to focus public attention on the American Lung Association’s Asthma Walks, held around the country each year to raise money for asthma research and educational programs. More than 60,000 walkers nationwide are expected to Blow the Whistle on Asthma this year by joining one of the 125 walks.
Today there is no cure for asthma, a serious lung disease that restricts the airways and causes wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. With early diagnosis and proper treatment, asthma can be controlled. But without it, asthma can be a debilitating and deadly disease, killing 5,000 Americans each year.
In California, 13 Asthma Walks are held around the state from May through September. At publication time, more than 1,500 walkers had already raised $226,000 in Asthma Walks held in Bakersfield, Chico, Clovis, Lompoc, Sacramento, Temecula and Ventura.
“It’s a great cause,” says Maiello, who plans to participate in the San Diego Asthma Walk in September. “On my motorcycle ride, I met guys who got so charged up about it they rode with me for a few miles. Asthma is a serious disease, so the next miles I do for the cause will be on my feet.”
