We walk for, Joe Deen, brother, son, my daughter Ashley's best friend and all around man of the world. There is no one like him.
A guy who read Vonnegut, Bukowski and Thompson then went out to do stand up comedy. Eagle Scout extraordinaire who was down for any outdoor adventure from camping to tubing to hurricane hiking. Any talk of travel and he was ready to go. Joe could turn on the mayor and work any room with anyone. Everyone who knew him or met him had a story about him. He was a good sport even tolerating my hugs. He was the guy.
Joe’s heart journey started in college when he began not feeling well leading to hospital stays. The diagnosis was congestive heart failure and the beginning of medical treatments. His treatment ran the gamut of what was available - Pacemaker, LVAD and then a heart transplant. Throughout all this Joe lived his philosophy of “Go Big or Go Home!”
Joe got 9.5 years with the transplant with 0% rejection all way to the end. His transplant began to fail in a benign way - he started having stomach problems. In the hospital, he fought like hell refusing to give up, while his medical team tried everything. Joe stopped responding to medical treatments and his family made the unimaginable decision to take him off life support. Joe was 34.
Life has never been the same since. We walk so no one else loses their Joe. This world needs more Joe Deen’s!