Man Walks Across America To Fulfill Promise

Mike Tittinger, 40, is walking coast-to-coast to fulfill a promise. His wife died after a failed heart transplant a decade ago. That’s when he promised himself that he would help others who are going through what his wife did.

“You don’t have to be a super athlete to do what I’m doing,” said Tittinger.

Tittinger’s wife, Deanna, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart defect. Deanna waited for months to get a heart transplant in 2000, but Tittenger said during that time her condition worsened to a point of no hope.

Doctors had told Deanna as a child that she would not live beyond her teen years, but she lived until age 30.

Tittinger started his walk on June 18 in San Francisco. He said he plans to walk to Ocean City, N.J., where he spread his wife’s ashes in December of 2000.

The cross-country journey is motivated by two goals.

First, Tittinger said he hopes to raise awareness about organ donation. He pointed out that his choice to walk Highway 50 is symbolic because one organ donor can change the lives of 50 people.

Second, Tittinger has created a scholarship for families of heart transplant patients. It is called the Onny and Oboe Scholarship Fund. The names come from two imaginary friends that Deanna had as a child.

“I just like to think that they were more than imaginary. That they were sent to keep a sick child company and playing and laughing,” said Tittinger.

Tittinger has since remarried and said his wife, Brooke, helped him create the scholarship fund. He said he considers his walk “a celebration, not a memorial.”

“Our motto is ‘a second chance to live is a second chance to dream,’ ” Tittinger said.

If you would like to donate to the Onny and Oboe Scholarship Fund or contact Mike, click here.