When Lizzy turned 30, she decided to celebrate the best way she knew how: by jumping out of an airplane. Two years earlier, Lizzy received a life-saving double-lung transplant after living her entire life with Cystic Fibrosis. She was diagnosed at just four months old, and doctors told our parents she would likely live to be 10 years old. Lizzy had other plans: she turned 10, then 13, 16, 18, 21. And when she turned 30, she asked Dad to go skydiving with her. Without hesitation, he said yes!

The two of them jumped together at Skydive Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. It was a bucket list moment and a celebration of everything Lizzy fought so hard for. After her transplant, she often said: “Time flies when you’re living.” For Lizzy, the jump was about celebrating life. It was a way to honor the selfless donor who gave her a second chance and proving that her illness would never define what she could experience.
 

Lizzy spent her life balancing daily treatments, medications, long hospital stays, and the constant realities of Cystic Fibrosis. But she refused to let CF define her. She was strong, sarcastic, silly, fiercely independent, and unbelievably funny. She documented her life openly on social media, sharing the realities of CF with honesty and humor.  Whether she was making people laugh with “Pregnancy Pillow Talks with Lizzy,” reviewing hospital food in “Is It Edible?”, or simply showing what life with CF looked like, she built a community of people who found strength, laughter, and courage through her openness. Lizzy didn’t sugarcoat life and people loved her for it.

On January 28, 2023, Lizzy died from complications of Cystic Fibrosis and our world shattered, but Dad refused to let Lizzy’s story end there. He turned his grief into action. That same year, he created Lizzy Got Wings, a Passion Fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. His idea was simple: raise $1 for every foot of a 13,000-foot skydive in Lizzy’s honor. His goal was $13,000. and he raised over $16,000 in the first year alone. He continued the jump in 2024 and again in 2025. Through Lizzy Got Wings, more than $30,000 has already been raised to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation so that people with CF can live longer, healthier lives.

Then, on October 31, 2026, our family experienced another unimaginable loss. Dad died unexpectedly. He was compassionate, generous, loving and always gave more of himself in the pursuit to help lift up others. We miss him every single day. Following the spirit behind Lizzy Got Wings, turning love and grief into action, we carry on together.

This year marks the 4th Annual Lizzy Got Wings Jump. On April 14, what would have been Lizzy’s 35th birthday, our brother Matt will jump in San Clemente, California at Skydive Elsinore. He’ll be jumping for Lizzy. And for Dad.

Our fundraising goal remains $13,000, honoring the height of the original jump and the tradition Dad began. Every dollar raised goes directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation who has worked tirelessly to help improve the lives of those with CF. Lizzy was one of those people who got more time because of that progress. Now we want to help create even more time for others because if Lizzy taught us anything, it’s this: Time flies when you’re living.