By Pauline Middlehurst

There are many ways to celebrate your 16th birthday.

Until now, running up 69 flights of stairs with your buddies in memory of your brother wasn’t a common one.

But that is how Trenton Price spent the morning of his 16th birthday recently.

The Big Climb for Leukemia, which took place at the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle on Sunday, March 22, marked seven years since leukemia became something the Price family thought about on a daily basis.

The Big Climb is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Washington/Alaska Chapter’s largest fundraiser.

They call it the Big Climb because people run (or walk) up 69 flights of stairs, which equals 1,311 steps and 788 feet of vertical elevation.

The organizers limited the event to 6,000 participants – some people do the climb more than once!

Why do they do this?

To raise money to fight the disease that takes and changes lives.

In 2002, Trevor Price, Trenton’s brother, was diagnosed with Leukemia, a life changing moment for their whole family.

People rallied round the Price family, not just while Trevor was fighting the disease, but in the years since.

The struggle that claimed his life lasted just five short months.

Trevor’s father Steve and his co-workers at Boeing put together a team, “Project Trevor,” for the Big Climb back in 2002.

Project Trevor had 115 participants in 2002 and won the second place fundraising trophy for raising $2,648 for the foundation.

Seven years later Project Trevor still has over 100 participants, and they have raised $23,139 so far.

I had seen their traffic cone orange tee shirts, but I hadn’t read the message on the back.

The front says “Big Climb for Leukemia.”

The back has more impact – it’s a photo of Trevor with the quote, “Dad, I have a question, is leukemia life threatening?”

That got my attention.

As a parent of 4, how would I answer that?

Dr David Bahm of Pine Lake Chiropractic Clinic has been involved with Project Trevor for the past 6 years.

His two sons are the same ages as the Price boys, and were their classmates at Mead Elementary School in Sammamish.

Alex is friends with Trenton, and Ryan was classmates with Trevor.

Trevor’s tragedy has a silver lining – the “family” that has built up around the Price family is a testament to the strength of the Sammamish community.

There is even a Trevor Price Award at the SAMMI Awards, given to a Sammamish youth who outwardly displays compassion, respect and kindness, setting a positive example for his/her peers.

Donations can be made to Project Trevor and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through April 10, online at www.bigclimb.org.

In support of this cause Dr. Bahm offers all new patients a special $50 initial exam fee which will be donated to Project Trevor.

For existing patients 10 percent of their co-pay will also be donated.

This applies to all visits between now and April 10.

To schedule your appointment with Pine Lake Chiropractic Clinic please call 425-391-4095.

The clinic is located at 2809 228th Ave SE, Suite #C, in Sammamish.