A Letter and Call-to-Action From EGAN Medical CEO Peter Egan
By: EGAN Medical CEO Peter EganFirst, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal customers for your unwavering support since we launched as a shoestring start-up in January of 2011. It is because of you that I have the privilege of writing this letter today.
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| Steve Gleason Blocks the Punt that Breathed Life Back into New Orleans |
** DONATE HERE: Help EGAN Medical CEO Post Bail for ALS **
I know the impact Steve Gleason had on me personally. I lost everything during Hurricane Katrina. I lost my uninsured home, my business, and an approximately $5 million contract with the Planet Beach Corporation scheduled to be signed the day the levees broke.
When he (Gleason) blocked that punt versus the Atlanta Falcons in the first game to be played inside the now-dubbed Mercedes Benz Superdome following Katrina, in an instant, a million people whose lives had been turned upside down were given hope for the first time in over a year. We (New Orleanians) hate the Falcons, which made it all-the-more significant. For the first time in a year-plus we had something to be proud of.
Hearing that man state during an interview in the days leading up to this season's Super Bowl (during which we provided a piece of medical equipment for a guest of Mr. Gleason who also suffers from ALS) that the worst part about ALS is "having to have someone else wash my genitals" broke my heart and literally brought me to tears as the press corps was chuckling.
That man did so much for so many. To see a man my age dying, and rapidly at that -- someone who helped me muster the strength to pick myself up by the bootstraps and stop feeling sorry for myself -- really tugs at my heartstrings.
While I have yet to replicate the business success I experienced pre-Katrina when e-commerce was in its earliest of phases and I was one of a select few who had mastered the craft that early on in its development, I am happy; and more importantly God has provided for me that which I need and much of what I want.
ALS is a terrible disease, and its one for which I have a personal incentive to do my part to help find a cure.
I certainly expect nothing from anyone, but every dollar counts, and if you've been blessed to be in a position to help whatever the extent, it is greatly appreciated - not only by me but more importantly by all those less fortunate than ourselves who actually have to die painful deaths in which their bodies deteriorate until they can no longer function.
EGAN Medical is not in this for publicity. We're overwhelmed amidst a move and really aren't in the best position to be pursuing fundraising opportunities aside from for-profit endeavors. That said, this cause is so important that I feel compelled to do everything within my power as well as that of my company to help the Muscular Dystrophy Association do all it can to find a cure for the disease sooner rather than later.
As an aside, EGAN Medical was privileged to have had the opportunity to deliver a sliding transfer bench to Easter Seals of Louisiana, who was working to accommodate a Super Bowl guest of Mr. Gleason earlier this year with the Super Bowl in New Orleans. The guest also suffers from ALS, and we were honored to be able to provide it with same-day delivery, charging only that which we paid for the item (we regularly donate to Easter Seals, and this was a particularly high-end item that at the time we were not able to outright donate).
Thankfully, we've grown considerably since then, and are in a far better position now to make large donations, hence our commitment to match all donations by anyone outside the company dollar-for-dollar (up to $1,000). We're eager to contribute as much as we can, and we'll need your help in order to do so.
It matters not if your budget affords you the ability to donate $1 or $100, every dollar counts, and every dollar up to $1,000 will be matched by EGAN Medical Equipment, Inc.
Please carefully consider my plea, and if you've been blessed with the wherewithal to help cure this dreadful disease, please reach into your pocketbook and donate whatever amount your budget allows.
While we certainly have no expectations on an individual basis, but we are hoping to raise at least $1,000 within the next three days, so time is of the essence.
If you are in a position to give, you have my utmost assurances that we'll match dollar-for-dollar your donation, and it could not possibly go to a better cause than helping ensure that one day (preferably sooner rather than later), good men like Steve Gleason and all others suffering from this terrible and terminal illness will have hope that their diagnosis may not necessarily mean an imminent, painful and cruel death --- a death that claims the lives of young and old alike without discrimination.
Again, no expectations, but much gratitude for anything that anyone reading this can afford to do.
Sincerely and Best Regards,
Peter Egan
EGAN Medical Equipment, INC
President, CEO
To donate and help find a cure for ALS, please visit the following URL: (http://)www2.mda.org/site/TR?px=1795931&fr_id=5921&pg=personal
