FLM 2

Today I was driving around the city getting supplies for my up-coming trip back to Haiti.

I kept getting texts to my phone "MSF treated 200 people with cholera like symptoms in PAP", "60 confirmed cases in Carrefour" to give you an example. With now close to 600 confirmed deaths due to Cholera and with estimates coming in at close to 230k+ dying in the next year from this outbreak I found myself in tears... and as I drove up Victoria Park Hill with tears in my eyes I thought about my friend Matt Cook...

For those of you who don't know about Matt you can read about him in my post here http://liseinhaiti.blogspot.com/2010/04/flm.html

As it turns out today would have been Matt's birthday. I think about Matt a lot..you would too if you had known him! He was an inspiration to those who did... but I must admit that I had not thought about him in the last few weeks, I most often think about him when I am running and want to quit..I think to myself "Matt ran with a prosthetic leg, you have 2 good ones..get going! So to think of him when my thoughts are of despair and sadness for a group of people faced with a fight for their lives does not surprise me.. Cause you see that's the type of fight Matt faced everyday and one he took head on everyday...

And its also no surprise to me that the letters FLM came into my head. For those of you who don't know FLM means "Fight Like Matt". Shannon Szabados (a friend of Matts and goalie for Team Canada Gold winning hockey team) made the letters famous by painting them on the back of her goalie mask, but as the Cook family told me they were coined by Brady (Matt's best friend and older brother). Regardless of how and who started it, FLM means a lot to a lot of people myself included.

The people of Haiti are once again in the fight for their lives... And I thought to myself "I'm gonna help the people of Haiti FIGHT LIKE MATT". I am going to do everything possible in me to help them live... There were many people that helped Matt in his battle against the Cancer that over took his body as there are many people in and out of Haiti helping in the fight against Cholera. So once again I find myself inspired by this truly amazing young man and I thank him for the strength that he gives me to do all I can...

Thanks again Matt. Happy Birthday....

http://www.mattcookfoundation.com/