Sia sings the hit “Unstoppable” and martial artist John Morrow lives it.
The 71-year-old owner of Morrow’s Academy of Martial Arts in Moline was hit by a car two years ago. But when a student’s 18-year-old son needed a lung transplant to save his life, Morrow decided to do a fundraiser for the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, a nonprofit that helps families with expenses when their children need transplants.
On Friday, May 5th, Morrow completed a staggering 1,000 sit-ups, 1,000 leg-lifts and 1,000 push-ups in one hour to raise money for COTA, at the Moline Township Center.
In 2006, he was put in the Guinness Book of World Records when he set the record for push-ups on the back of his hands. He is a tournament champion who has trained thousands of Quad Citians in martial arts. Morrow said he wants to help families whose children need a transplant and also send a message that you don’t have to give up on your fitness as you get older.
This past Dec. 22, 2022, Morrow not only raised $1,130 in donations for the Black Hawk College Veterans Resources Center. On the 22nd, Morrow began shortly after 2:22 p.m. at his martial arts school, proceeding to do 22 sets of 22 leg lifts and 22 sit-ups (a total of 484 each).
His father, a Navy veteran from World War II, died by suicide at age 50 in 1977. John Morrow was inspired to get involved in the “22” cause (an average of 22 U.S. vets take their lives each day) after hearing an Optimist Club talk on the topic from Tom Reagan, a Marine Corps veteran and former East Moline police officer, who is BHC’s coordinator of veterans services.
Friday’s physical feat was inspired by Michael Latcham of Moline, who was born Dec. 12, 2004 after swallowing a mix of meconium and amniotic fluid while emerging from the birth canal. The day of his birth, Michael was taken to University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, where he spent the first three months of his life.
Last December, soon after he turned 18, he caught a para flu which further damaged his lungs, according to COTA. Did Michael the warrior give up? He did not! “While in ICU and with many prayers and God’s providence, he wrestled his way back to life and his family,” says the fundraising page on COTA’s website.
He has managed to complete the 12th grade, but his lungs have not improved, and he needs a lung transplant.
“Michael is one of the nicest young men you would want to meet,” says the COTA campaign website. “Michael adds so much love and compassion to this world that we will fight with him to get through the lung transplant and recovery.”
COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults.
Like Morrow, Michael seems to be unstoppable, too. To donate to the COTA campaign for his transplant (which has raised $22,087 of a $50,000 goal, click HERE.
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