Suburban Dental Office Raises Over $33K for Fight For Air Climb

Markiewicz Dental in suburban Mundelein has stepped up big time for the American Lung Association’s 15th annual Fight For Air Climb Chicago, locally presented by UnitedHealthcare. The Dental office’s climb team, named Team ElizaBreath, has raised over $33,000 for the event to help those struggling with lung disease. The team rallied to raise funds in honor of Tony Markiewicz’ wife, Elizabeth, and her courageous battle with lung disease. Elizabeth Markiewicz had a double lung transplant less than two weeks ago and is recovering at Northwestern Hospital.

In 2017, Elizabeth was diagnosed with lung disease, and last November an acute flare-up of her Interstitial Lung Disease left her in end stage lung disease with no real hope of recovery without a transplant.  

The family is grateful to the donor family and the transplant team at Northwestern for giving Elizabeth a second chance. They add she is an example of how important organ donation can be for people struggling with failing lungs.

“Last year Elizabeth and I did this event together. We always planned to climb this year, but obviously her health didn’t allow her to participate,” said Tony Markiewicz. “The ALA is the go-to resource for lung health and lung disease education. It is one of the leading organizations to advocate for legislation to protect air quality and to provide resources for individuals and families struggling with lung disease. Speaking firsthand, we often relied on ALA resources.”

Elizabeth has been supporting the American Lung Association and climbing in events since the 90’s. The couple’s son has asthma and Elizabeth’s dad had lung cancer.

Her sisters Gloria Kas and Diana Palmer are the Climbs top two fundraisers with Team ElizaBreath ranked as the top team fundraiser at $33,052.

Tony, Gloria, and Diana will all be at Sunday’s Climb at Soldier Field and are available for interviews. Please contact Janye Killelea with requests at [email protected] or call (312) 940-7624.