Every now and then you read something and say, “Wow.”
That happened to me the other day when I read a LinkedIn post.
It moved me.
Riveted me.
Completely engaged me.
It was from one of my very good friends from college, Mike Markham. We met in the dorms at BYU, where I stayed my first semester.
Winter semester, 1983, to be exact. It was Mike’s second semester.
At one point during our college days he worked as a flower delivery man. I remember that because he said he was regularly delivering flowers to Marie Osmond’s studio from one of her secret admirers (and they weren’t paper roses). She supposedly would donate those flowers.
After graduating with a masters from Utah State University, he eventually landed a long career at Intel working as a learning and development manager.
Meet Grandson Damian
For the past several years, Mike and other family members have been dedicating a lot of their time raising funds for his grandson, Damian, who’s battling a very rare, currently incurable disease.
I’ll let Mike’s LinkedIn post tell the rest of the story in his own words about how they hope to #SaveDamian:
I want to share my thoughts about Pat Gelsinger after his departure from #Intel Corporation. I had 1 single interaction with Pat at Intel.
It wasn’t professional. It was personal.
I am sharing that experience because regardless of what you may think of him as a leader (my opinion is that he is a great leader and CEO, btw), Pat is a hero in my book.
Let me explain…(sorry, this is the short version. For more information and updates please go to: savedamian.com)
In 2019, my grandson Damian was born. For almost 2 years he seemed to be normal in every way. That all changed in January of 2021 when my son Brock Markham and daughter-in-law Brittany Markham noticed some regression in his growth.
Damian was diagnosed with a very rare and fatal genetic disease called ASMD (also known as Niemann-Pick Disease Type A). Kids with this disease don’t live past age 5. There is no cure at this time.
As Brock and Brittany explored every avenue to help Damian, they became involved in an organization dedicated to finding a cure called Wylder Nation Foundation.
They found a pharmaceutical company that had an experimental drug not on the market. It wasn’t a cure, but it showed promise in helping children with ASMD by stopping the regression.
So, the foundation and Brittany tried everything they could to get in front of the board of directors of this pharmaceutical company. They hoped to convince them to release the experimental drug to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles so they could use it for testing with Damian.
But they couldn’t get the board’s attention. They were desperate. Time was running out. I didn’t know how to help them.
One evening in October of 2021 I was working late and an impression came upon me….send an email to Pat Gelsinger. I explained the situation to Pat and said “How do we get their attention so we can get their help?”
Pat didn’t have to respond. No one would have blamed him if he didn’t.
Well, Pat did respond. He responded about 20 minutes after I sent the email. He gave some good advice and at the end he wrote, “Which pharmaceutical company?”
I wrote to him the name of the company and that their HQ was in Ireland. He immediately wrote me back and cc’d his Chief of Staff and asked his COS to immediately contact Intel executives in Ireland to see if they have any contacts with this company.
A few days later I heard back. One of the Intel leaders knew the Chief of Staff of the company. A connection was made. The information on the drug and about Damian was sent. Within a few months, Damian started on the drug. And earlier this year we celebrated Damian’s 5th birthday.
Damian isn’t out of the woods. We still need a cure. But because of Pat and the fact that he cared about one of his employees enough to go that extra mile, Damian has hope.
I don’t know what is next for Pat Gelsinger. But, Pat, if you ever read this, I’ll gladly work for you in any company you are at. Thank you, Pat.
Social Media to Follow
Quite the story, isn’t it? If you want to stay updated on the #SaveDamian campaign:
The 3 Big Takeaways
- If you’d like to donate to help find a cure for ASMD, please do so here.
- Telling a heartfelt story can help your cause, immensely.
- Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is a great guy.
If you were moved by this story, please forward this newsletter to others and please share Mike’s LinkedIn post.
Thank you, and may you be blessed this wonderful holiday season.
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s AuthenticityPR’s Chief Authentic Officer and also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University. He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
