by TEVAH PLATT
A Staten Island firefighter will look into the face of death tomorrow, in hopes that the children he's raising money for won't have to. Daredevil Mike Brody of Eltingville will make 50 consecutive skydiving jumps from 3,000 feet above Gardiner, N.Y., in order to raise funds for children with the rare genetic disorder Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome. Brody doesn't know any of the 12 children in the United States currently afflicted with progeria, a fatal condition characterized by the appearance of accelerated aging. But the 35-year-old member of Graniteville's Ladder Co. 86, who wanted to take action on behalf of children, learned about the disorder online and was moved by the stories he read there. "I just want to do something," he told the Advance yesterday. "As a fireman, coming to terms with facing death was a scary thing. I've lost a lot of people and I think it's something adults should handle -- not kids." Brody connected personally when he read about a 2-year-old girl, Lindsay, on the Web site of the Progeria Research Foundation (www.progeriaresearch.org). He wrote a note to the little girl, who is the same age as his own daughter, to tell her about his skydiving mission. Lindsay and the 42 other children known to have Progeria worldwide are likely to die of stroke or heart disease before reaching adulthood, though a newly available drug brings with it the hope for a successful treatment, if not a cure. Weather permitting, Brody, Dave Bauer of Albany and New Jersey skydiving coach Max Cohn will be dropped tomorrow from a Cessna 182 at the Blue Sky Ranch in upstate Gardiner, again and again, for at least 12 hours. They have asked friends and colleagues to donate $1 per jump. The funds will go to the Progeria Research Foundation, which recently launched a $21 million campaign to fund the first-ever clinical drug trial. Brody had the idea to combine his skydiving passion with the charitable cause to help raise awareness and to make the whole endeavor more personal, he said. "I want to do this every year and maybe get people at drop zones across the country to join," he said. "I have big delusions of grandeur for this thing." The crew will begin skydiving at 8 a.m. tomorrow, with a 15-minute expected turnaround between takeoffs. It's going to be a long day for Brody, but he's doing what he loves. "I've been skydiving for 17 years now and it's a really great sport," he said. "I feel closer to God doing it." Brody, a former U.S. Marine who recently sold his motorcycle, is a thrill-seeker who recognizes the risks of skydiving but doesn't feel much fear. "I don't know if it's bravery or stupidity," he joked. But tomorrow, his actions are about something else: Compassion. "When I think about what these kids face, it breaks my heart," he said. "I want to do everything I can to help them." -- To donate to the cause, call the Progeria Research Foundation directly at 978-535-2594 and mention the Parachuting for Progeria fund-raiser, or visit the foundation's Web site. In the case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for later this month.
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