Every now and again, a series of random events connect to form a truly unique and inspiring story. We'd like to tell you about such a story.
Bryan Warnecke is a 15 year old living in Castle Rock, Colorado. He was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that attacks the lungs, pancreas, liver, and intestines. Difficultly breathing is the most serious symptom and results from frequent lung infections. Other symptoms including sinus infections, poor growth, and infertility affect other parts of the body. Lung infections are treated with antibiotics and other medications. Ultimately, lung transplantation is often necessary as CF worsens. The average life expectancy is 37 to 40 years in the United States.
Although Bryan lost a piece of his right lung a few years ago, he has been raising money for CF and local children’s hospitals by cycling in various events and fundraisers, sometimes biking hundreds of miles in a day. Last year, he raised the most amount of money by a single rider in the 25-year history of the Courage Classic. This year, he’s raising the bar and is riding 1,000 miles around the state of Colorado to raise money for CF.
Bryan has an incredible outlook on life, appreciates every moment he has on this earth, and wants to make every second count- a mindset that we value dearly. He also happens to be one of our best customers, which is how this story was brought to our attention. Judging by his past orders, Bryan has a closet full of Virtika. If the story ended there, it would be a pretty damn good story. But no, it only gets better…..
Along with being featured on local news stations, Bryan was recently invited to be the focal point of OneRepublic’s newest song entitled “I Lived”, a song meant to raise awareness for CF. The music video was released a few days ago and has already gotten almost 2 million views. Bryan’s whole life is shown in the video including his childhood, playing hockey, biking, and of course rocking his Virtika hats while skating and kicking it. We’re proud to be part of such an incredible story. Keep doing it big Bryan, we’re looking forward to meeting you next weekend at the pro-sale and getting you decked out for the season! -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0rxydSolwU&feature=youtu.be. 