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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 24, 2005 Jason Looney hopes to get a new set of lungs with the fund-raising help of, from left, Betsy Biber, Sandy Looney (Jason�s mother), Julie Wiley and Laura Jones. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven A breath of goodness Three family friends and his mother hope a fundraising drive will give Jason Looney of Medford a lung transplant and new lease on life By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune Many people born with cystic fibrosis don’t live beyond their 20s. Jason Looney of Medford is different. He’s 34 now, but last spring his health began to fail, his weight dropped to 115 pounds and he had to leave his job. What he needs now — and what a group of friends are trying to raise — is $75,000 for a lung transplant for costs not covered by insurance. Julie Wiley, Laura Jones and Betsy Biber have never done fundraising before. But they’re bound and determined to raise the money Looney needs through a talent show, silent auction, mock kidnapping of prominent local people (who must raise "ransom" from their friends to be released) and direct appeals to churches and individuals, said Wiley, an owner of Wiley’s World Pasta Co. in Ashland who’s acting as fund drive chairwoman. "Raising this kind of money while we’re all working is exceedingly difficult and we’ve never done it before and are pretty naive about it," she said. "One friend told me, if I knew what I was getting into, I wouldn’t do it, but we’re getting green light after green light. "It will help the community attain a lofty, positive goal and give Jason the funding that will stay with him a lifetime, including $2,000 to $5,000 a year for meds." Advertisement All friends of Jason’s mother, Sandy Looney, the three women do more than just raise money. "I feel really honored and supported by this phenomenal help," said Jason Looney. "They bring me food, come and talk with me and support me in so many ways. I don’t know how to repay them." When Looney was in Portland for a few days of tests recently, the band of women drove up and hung out with him, talking and laughing, making him smoothies to help him gain weight and renting him movies, said his mother. At home, they also clean house and hold prayer circles for Looney. "They love Jason. They never say no. Jason is an incredible soul and I’m so lucky to have him as a son," said Sandy Looney. "These are my friends but I don’t think they’d have come on board like this unless they saw that Jason had this amazing courage. A lot of things that come my way make me angry, but Jason accepts them with grace and wisdom." Cystic fibrosis is "a nasty disease that thickens mucus and interferes with digestion and respiration, so you have weight loss and a struggle to breathe," explained Jones, a physical education teacher at Southern Oregon University. "Jason has put up a hell of a fight, but his need for a new set of lungs has become increasingly urgent." The group has signed on with the National Foundation for Transplants, which mentors friends and family on fundraising and serves as a secure station to receive donations for medical expenses, said Sandy Looney, who, as a relative foster care provider, devotes herself full time to caretaking her son. The women met when they formed a women’s group three years ago, never imagining its prime focus would be on the life-and-death struggle of one member and her child. "We all know and love each other and Jason," said Jones. "When you love someone, it’s so important to support the divine spark in them, as anyone knows who does volunteer work. The volunteer gets as much as the person she’s helping. You get out of yourself and your daily life and get a chance to really support life and goodness in the world." Until early this year, Jason Looney had been self-sufficient, being married and holding down a job for 13 years as a custodial night supervisor at Southern Oregon University. Both wife and job are gone now. Fellow employees kicked in $500 worth of sick time to support him last spring and Pathways Enterprises, which employs people with life challenges, "did everything it could" to keep checks coming, said Sandy Looney. "We’ve always been struggling, but we’re really struggling now," she said, noting her son receives $852 a month Social Security disability, of which $317 goes to BlueCross BlueShield, whose policy for Looney has a $10,000 deductible. The family will soon receive $450 a month for relative foster care. The Looneys have joined Mercy Flights, which will get them to Seattle in the three-hour window following the availability of lungs through the death of a donor. After the transplant, they must pay for three months’ worth of lodging and living expenses in Seattle while Jason Looney battles possible tissue rejection. What drives Looney’s support group? "Sandy and Jason have such a divine spark in them," Wiley said. "You look in his eyes and there’s that easygoing guy, with a great sense of humor and faith. He’s done so much. And Sandy’s love for him is undying and unwavering and no matter what happens, she just gets going and does it. In my eyes, she’s a hero." When the operation is complete, Jason Looney wants to get back to hiking, jogging, tennis and fishing. Meanwhile, he settles for being able to walk to the kitchen and make coffee, which winds him while he gets his heart rate down to normal, said his mother. "It’s incredible," said Jason Looney. "Where you see the ugliness of people fighting so much in the world. Here, I see people supporting me and it makes me believe life is still good and there’s love around the world everywhere." John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. How you can donate Tax-deductible donations to help Jason Looney may be made by mailing a check to the National Foundation for Transplants, 711 Medford Center, PMB No. 171, Medford, OR 97504, or by going to the NFT’s Web site, www.transplants.org and clicking on "Patients We Help" in the upper left-hand corner. Checks should be made payable to National Foundation for Transplants, with "in honor of Jason Looney" written on the memo Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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