Grandfather Mountain, Nature on a Whole Different Level

TOP SHOP MANAGER TAKES ON A "BEAR" OF A CHALLENGE

On the opening night of the Highland Games, 848 people ran five miles uphill from the town of Linville to the top of Grandfather Mountain, gaining 1,568 feet in elevation in a footrace aptly named “The Bear.”

To say that these runners were a gutsy group is surely an understatement, but for Marcia Thompson the challenge of The Bear was one in a series of courageous choices she confronted in 2006. For Thomas Huskins, however, participating in The Bear was the definitive symbol of life and living it abundantly.

An employee of Grandfather Mountain for the past 23 years, Top Shop Manager Thomas Huskins was born with juvenile diabetes. When at the age of 29 his kidneys began to fail, his brother Brain gave him one of his. Then at the age of 35 doctors offered Thomas a pancreas transplant to cure his diabetes.

But last summer, even as the runners were tackling the hill in The Bear 2005, doctors were struggling to adjust the two-time transplant recipient’s anti-rejection medications. The doctors found the proper balance by the end of the summer, but the period of adjustment had taken its toll and Thomas’ kidney had started to show signs of failure.

Told that a third transplant was his only hope, Thomas shared his need for another kidney donor with his church family. Thirteen people volunteered to donate an organ. Marcia Thompson, a distant cousin and childhood friend, turned out to be a six point match.

The transplant was performed January 11 at Carolina’s Medical Center in Charlotte. Thomas’ recovery was much quicker than expected and he was back to work at Grandfather Mountain in a little over two months.

With an appreciation for life, Thomas began looking for new challenges to test just what he could accomplish. The first one of these challenges came when he decided to participate in The Bear.

“I went to see my doctor for a checkup and I told him ‘I have to ask you something and you are going to think I’m insane,’” Huskins said.

The doctor quickly asked Thomas why he had undergone the transplant. Thomas responded, “to save my life.” But the doctor pressed him further, asking again what was the real reason he had endured the third transplant.

“To have a better quality of life,” Huskins said.

The doctor then said that participating in the race would be fine. So five months and 25 days after undergoing his third organ transplant, Thomas Huskins ran five miles uphill to the top of the highest mountain in the Blue Ridge range.

Preparation for the challenge began many months ago. Thomas’ exercise routine has included running four miles a day since April, and in the week prior to the race he and his wife Susan walked the course at their own pace daily. Donor Marcia Thompson joined the couple on the day of the race.

Like most other runners, Thomas said the final grade was the toughest.

“We made it to the top of the last hill and we were trying to compose ourselves,” said Huskins. “Marcia turned to me and asked if we were going to do it again next year. I told her to let me think about it for awhile.”

Participating in The Bear is only the first of many challenges that Huskins hopes to present to himself. He has been looking at other walking and running events in which to compete, possibly some with the Kidney Foundation.

The Bear will always remain close to his heart though since it was his first challenge after the transplant, and because it takes place on Grandfather Mountain.

“The tremendous support I had from the Grandfather employees was amazing,” said Huskins. “I consider them my family rather than just friends. This was one of the most special things I have done in my life.”

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