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Courtesy of Sarah Gamble
Jeff Cadwell greets his former coworker Sarah Gamble after
she completed a three-day, 55-mile walk with fellow UCLA employees
Rosie Paola, Melinda Agcaoili, Donna Wilson, Renita Bailey
and Tiffany Jordan. |
TRIUMPH OF THE FEET
Employees team up to walk for Jeff
by cynthia lee
ucla today staff
When Jeff Cadwell worked as a telecommunications project manager
at UCLA’s Communications Technology Services (CTS), he knew
the value of teamwork. Among his complex projects was the revamping
of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center’s telephone system.
“CTS is a close-knit network of people — we all worked
collectively and collaboratively,” he said. “If one
link in the chain failed, then things didn’t happen. So there
had to be support all around.”
Cadwell discovered the depth of that esprit de corps after leaving
UCLA last year when he found out he had multiple sclerosis. To help
him and 400,000 other Americans with this debilitating disease,
a team of six UCLA employees, including four from CTS, walked 55
miles from Carlsbad to San Diego over three days earlier this month
to raise money for a cure and critically needed programs.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Sarah Gamble,
who was so inspired by Cadwell’s positive outlook that she
organized an all-Bruin team to do the MS Challenge Walk, a benefit
for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “When we got
to the finish line in San Diego on Sept. 12, there was Jeff in a
wheelchair and his mom. We all burst into tears. It was such a great
event to be involved with.”
Tears also flowed when Cadwell told Gamble, supervisor of the CTS
customer service center, about his disease. The only one with dry
eyes was Cadwell himself. “He said things happen for a reason.
He said he had been living a very fast life and working really hard.
And now he had a chance to slow down because life is too short.”
Cadwell, 34, said he is determined to “live a positive lifestyle.”
Once weighing 365 pounds, he’s shed 200 pounds since undergoing
gastric bypass surgery. And he is upbeat about a home-based business
he recently launched as a life coach, advising others in need of
support via phone and e-mail.
When he learned that Gamble was recruiting walkers willing to
try to raise a minimum of $2,500 each in pledges, he was overwhelmed.
“She touched my heart,” he said.
Finding supporters, training and fund-raising took months. Gamble
got the word out to the campus via Staff Assembly and a booth at
the UCLA resource fair. Two others, one from UCLA Extension and
another from the history department, volunteered to walk. Other
supporters sold Tupperware, which gave 40% of the proceeds to the
team.
News of the walk spawned unexpected results. Contacting the Marilyn
Hilton MS Achievement Center at UCLA, Gamble, vice president of
programs at Staff Assembly, helped organize a Learn-at-Lunch session.
In the audience were UCLA Recreation staff, who are now exploring
with the center the possibility of providing recreational programs
for those with MS.
To train, Gamble, never much of an athlete, walked with her teammates
as many as 12 miles after work. “I can’t begin to tell
you what a great experience this has been,” said the team
leader, who has dropped 45 pounds since last October. “This
has been nothing but positive. Only my feet hurt.” Supporters
plan to do the walk again next year. So far the team has raised
$12,000, with the hope of increasing the total to $17,000 with a
raffle.
All this has left Cadwell a little amazed.
“You can spend eight hours a day — a third of your
life — with your coworkers,” Cadwell said, “and
still not realize how you touch people in a special way. It’s
very inspiring.”
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