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Hello, I am Keturah Abate and McKinley: Climb of Hope is my story.
I am a Sabra, or native Israeli, and served my country as a member of Israel’s elite Unit 669, the Flying Cats. Airborne Combat Rescue and Excavation Unit 669 is the Israeli Defense Forces’ heliborne Combat Search and Rescue extraction unit and is the Israeli equivalent to the United States Air Force Pararescue, or PJ’s. Both are elite special forces groups trained to fight their way into dangerous situations and rescue both wounded military colleagues and civilians.
As you would expect with a special forces unit, the training requirements are tough and only a small number of us make it through to serve. So, becoming a Flying Cat is a great honor, but serving as a member of Unit 669 is a privilege. You live each day ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, to unknown destinations, not knowing if you will make it back. But you do so knowing that those who are trapped and hurt will likely not live another day without your deployment. Your life focus is about your patient and not yourself. It’s as our motto says, “Call upon me in times of trouble… I will be there for you and rescue you (Psalm 50).” You learn to boldly live in the moment without concern for your own future.
So, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my instinct and natural inclination was to face it with this same conviction and daring approach. But it wasn’t the same, as I couldn’t risk my daughter, Dvora, losing her mother as she had her father. My mission needed to be to focus on my health and to beat my cancer at any cost, or so I thought. Logic can tell you one thing, but the universe can send you in an entirely unexpected direction altogether. And so, it turned out with my cancer. My mission wasn’t just to combat it, but to inspire others by taking on a much larger deployment. In the end, I would help others, as I have always done, and provide for my daughter’s future as well.
To read more of my story and to support my mission of helping those who are facing cancer themselves, please consider becoming a Paid Subscriber for exclusive access and additional benefits. A portion of proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. It’s only $6 per month but, right now, you can save 50% with an annual purchase. That’s only $36 for 12 months of exclusive, premium content!
Samuel Griswold
Keturah Abate is the fictional protagonist of Mckinley: Climb of Hope.