Alum runs for stroke victim
Dalton Walker
Mesa Legend

By the time someone finishes scanning the headlines of the morning newspaper, a person in the United States has suffered a stroke. According to the American Stroke Association website every 45 seconds someone suffers a stroke and every three minutes someone dies because of a stroke.
A former Mesa Community College student is doing his part to help raise awareness for a cause that can benefit any individual. Mike Minitti is running a marathon next January in Arizona to help raise money for the American Stroke Association. The American Stroke Association is a division of American Heart Association
Minitti enrolled at MCC in 1995 to play baseball. Soon after enrolling, he started working at the Health Center on campus. As a student worker, Minitti met Marvin Thuenen, who was recovering from a stroke. Thuenen is one of the main reasons Minitti is raising money for stroke.
“I helped him for the two years I was at Mesa,” Minitti said of Thuenen. “When I left, he would still ask about me and wonder how I was doing over the years.”
Soon after Thuenen’s death, Minitti did his own research on strokes in America and the results were catastrophic.
“It’s an illness, a widespread devastation,” said Minitti of strokes. “I found out what a stroke really is; it’s the third largest killer, to me being number three is pretty powerful.”
Jim Haggerty has been the Fitness Coordinator at MCC for the last 14 years. He works at the Health Improvement Center, which is located east of the Kirk Student Center.
Haggerty worked with Minitti when Thuenen participated in physical therapy at the center. He said the relationship between Minitti and Thuenen was a unique situation.
“The relationship they shared doesn’t happen here that often,” Haggerty said. “Mike was a student worker and he helped rehab Marvin. They connected when Marvin would come in for rehabilitation at the same time Mike was working.
Thuenen rehabbed at MCC from for a span of ten years. He started therapy in 1993 and stopped right before his death in 2004, according to Haggerty.
Minitti, along with his girlfriend, Jaimie Gosselin, are participating in P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon, that begins in central Phoenix. The marathon runs through Scottsdale and Tempe. “The marathon is a fitting thing for us to help end stroke,” said Minitti.
Minitti and Gosselin set out a goal of $4,000 at the beginning. They have been fundraising non stop to reach their goal. According to Minitti, they are almost there.
“It took a lot of fundraising to get where we are today,” Minitti said. “We are now at $3,800 and whatever money we raise above that is directly going to research to stop strokes.”
One example of their fundraising was raffling tickets, said Minitti. They also sent out letters asking relatives and friends for their donations. “We sent out about 100 letters and we got a pretty good response by family and friends,” Minitti said. A local pizza restaurant helped on a corporate level by donating 20 percent of the total bill Minitti and his friends paid after dining out.
Minitti was born and raised in Arizona. He now lives in Massachusetts while attending graduate school. After graduating from MCC in 1997, he enrolled and later graduated from Arizona State University.
“We are paying for our own plane tickets, so we don’t have to rely on ASA to pay for the tickets, plus we’re staying with family,” Minitti said of coming back to Arizona. “So every bit of money we raise goes directly to research, educating and drugs.”
In 2004 the estimated direct and indirect cost of stroke is $53.6 billion, according to the ASA. Minitti and Gosselin are doing their part
“I think it’s a nice gesture by Mike,” Haggerty said. “The marathon is an individual thing for most people, ‘seeing if they can finish it’ while Mike isn’t doing it for his own benefit, but for good cause.”

Back to Top | Previous Page | Home