Reason for joining the Quest

Steve Stallings

Having lost both parents to cancer (my mother at age 46 and my father at age 68), I have seen firsthand how this terrible disease physically ravishes the body and torments the mind of both its victims and their loved ones. It took everything I had to remain strong throughout my parents’ many rounds of treatment, and only wished throughout the duration of this disease that somehow it could have been me instead, to spare them the physical pain and to give them the full life on this earth that they so deserved.

I often ask myself how a child can be taken in this way, without having the opportunity to experience all that life has to offer as I have, and how the parents and siblings of these young victims can cope with the inevitable yet to come, and the aftermath their families must endure (emotionally and financially). Finding a cure for children’s cancers will ultimately lead (I believe) to a cure for its many other forms which could affect any of us.

For these reasons, I am taking the personal risks involved to complete this never-before completed
circumnavigation of the globe on Jet Ski’s to bring attention to this most deserving cause.

Background

I am a 51-year-old father of three grown children with families of their own, working in education as an IT support specialist, photographer and graphic artist for a DOD-funded learning initiative to increase the interest of high school students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. My interests include family, boating, fishing, camping, woodworking and motorsports. I am a 32nd degree Freemason.

Words for the kids at The Children’s Inn

I will do everything I can for you, and with the blessing of God, this quest will have a positive outcome for all of you guys. Hang in there, kids. I’ll be praying for all of you.