On Broad Street, running for hope and life

Seven years after taking on the Broad Street Run in memory of my murdered son, I am inspired to run again to benefit organ donation and Gift of Life House.

The team who ran the 2012 Broad Street Run in honor of Kevin Kless, who was killed in a street attack earlier that year. The 2019 run features a team running to benefit organ-donor advocates Gift of Life House in memory of Kless.Read moreCourtesy of Kless family

by Kendall Kless, For The Inquirer

Published May 3, 2019, 7:00 a.m. ET

On January 14, 2012, my intelligent, athletic, funny 23-year-old son died after being attacked on the streets of Philadelphia. There are no words to describe the devastation our family and friends felt.

What carried me through those darkest hours and days was the tremendous outpouring of love displayed for Kevin. Two dozen of his friends were in the hospital waiting room that night. Approximately 1,000 people were at his wake, coming from as far away as Australia.

Several months later, when a group of Kevin’s Temple University friends announced they were planning to honor Kevin by fund-raising and participating in the 2012 Broad Street Run, I signed up. I’m not sure why: I’m not a runner. I don’t even like to run. The friends were raising money in Kevin’s name to donate to an anti-violence program in local schools.

On Sunday, May 6, 2012, I felt a lump in my throat as I joined the starting line of the Broad Street Run with more than 30,000 strangers.

With each stride, I soaked in my surroundings: the drummer happily beating out cool rhythms as runners passed by; the gospel choir along the sidewalk singing joyfully; the woman handing out juicy orange slices to runners; the funny signs. Encouragement from onlookers gave me hope I would reach the finish line. Even when I thought I might not make it, I was inspired to carry on. That, I believe, is the essence of the Broad Street Run: hope and inspiration for all the runners who have a reason to run.

And so, this year, seven years after my run on Broad Street, I am inspired again.

For the 11th consecutive year, Temple University’s Gamma Iota Sigma — a philanthropic fraternity of risk management, insurance, and actuarial science students — has organized a group of 350 runners who will lace up their sneakers for the 2019 Broad Street Run. This year’s team has raised close to $7,000 for a Philadelphia’s Gift of Life House in memory of my son Kevin and another Temple student, Eric Smith.

Kevin and Eric both were members of Gamma and graduates from Temple’s Fox School of Business — Kevin in 2010 and Eric in 2011. Eric was killed in a car accident a month after graduation; Kevin was killed several months after Eric’s death. Both men were organ donors. Following their deaths, Gamma raised $25,000 in 2012 for the Gift of Life House in Kevin’s and Eric’s honor.

The Gift of Life House provides organ transplant patients and their families a home away from home, where they can live at a minimal cost while they undergo transplantation.

As donor families, we have experienced firsthand the genuine compassion and support provided by Gift of Life House. In the hospital on the worst night of our lives, our Gift of Life coordinator was truly a godsend. She was a nurse, so she was able to understand and explain all the medical scenarios that we encountered; and as a mom, she had a deep understanding of the emotional complexities of the decisions we faced. The support received by organ-donor families like ours continues well after the donation itself, through counseling, events that honor the organ donors, and by creating lasting connections to other organ donors and organ recipients.

It meant so much to me when Kevin’s friends ran in the 2012 Broad Street Run to support the Gift of Life House. I don’t think I can articulate what it means to me now, to know that students who never knew my son are running in his and Eric’s memory to benefit the organization that supported us through a very, very dark time, and that continues to support hundreds of people daily.

Kendall Kless is a mother of three sons and grandmother of two grandsons. A native of Warwick, N.Y., she is committed to philanthropy and honoring the life of her son, Kevin, through support of the Gift of Life House.

» READ MORE: Am I ready for the Broad Street Run?