| A
special
teddy
bear -
the
Burke P
Bear-
was
named
after
an
incredibly
spirited
young
man,
Burke
Derr,
who
died of
Cystic
Fibrosis
(CF)
just
two
days
before
his
19th
birthday.
Although
his
family
in the
USA
miss
Burke
terribly,
they
believe
his
spirit
and
legacy
lives
on in
the
bear,
which
is
helping
raise
research
money
to find
a cure
for the
disease
which
took
Burke's
life.
Burke
became
a Boyds
Bear
collector
about
six
years
ago
when he
was
about
13
years
old,
said
his
father,
Bob
Derr.
Burke
had
always
collect-
ed
teddy
bears,
but six
years
ago he
began
collecting
only
Boyds
Bears
and had
over
150 in
his
collection.
He was diagnosed with CF at the age of five- and-a-half months old. CF is the most common fatal genetic disease of childhood and it affects the lungs and the digestive system. "Burke never let CF slow him down - even as an older teenager when he had to be on oxygen all the time, he never sat around feeling sorry for himself. He was out to the mall, to the movies
|
and
to
local
retailers
in
search
of
Boyds
Bears,"
said
Bob.
"He
was
voted
'Most
spirited'
by his
high
school
graduating
class.
"In
February
1997
two of
his
friends
wrote
to G M
Lowenthal
(Chief
Designer
and
President
of The
Boyds
Collection)
to tell
him of
Burke's
collection
and
that
Burke
didn't
have a
whole
lot of
time
left.
Lowenthal
responded,
saying
one of
the
bears
in the
fall
collection
would
be
named
Burke P
Bear
after
our
Burke."
Before
Burke
died in
June, a
local
retailer
Lucinda
Marks
had the
idea of
giving
Pennsylvania
Cystic
Fibrosis
(PACFI)
one
dollar
for
every
Burke P
Bear
she
sold to
support CF
research
projects.
Burke's story was put on the Internet and Burke P Bear retailers from around the USA and Canada rallied round to help raise funds for PACFI. And Burke's family recently received a message from a lady named Jude who has a son, Tommy, who has CF. Tommy is apparently less than a year old and cannot say the word 'Burke' so he calls his Burke Bear 'Burp'. Jude wrote:
|
|
|
| "Who could have thought so much of a young man's spirit could have been captured into the body of a little teddy bear? I tell you, there's something special about 'Burp'. The first time I picked him up, I automatically hugged him and I swear to you, he hugged back! Tommy loves his Burke and takes him everywhere with him. "My sister is baffling a rare and incurable form of cancer, and at her last hospitalization, I got her a Burke too. She brightened immediately and was also touched by the story of Burke P Bear. When Burke is around, every- | one
just
feels a
little
bit
better.
What a
wonderful
legacy
your
Burke
has
left
for us.
God
bless
you."
"Jude's
comments
touched
our
hearts,
and we
know
Burke's
spirit
continues
to
reach
out to
help
others,"
said
Bob.
"We
know
he's
real
pleased
that
his
Burke P
Bear is
raising
funds
for CF
research.
And we
know
he's
laughing
angelically
at
being
called
'Burp'.
Boyds' retailers and other who want to participate in raising funds for CF research can contact PACFI by phone at 1-800-900-2790. by fax at 570 9881942, by email to bobderr@sunllink.net , or by writing to PACFI at PO Box 29. Mifflinburg, PA17844, US. |
||
