Andy is 31 years old and lives with cystic fibrosis, a disease with a median life expectancy of 32 years.  But Andy’s life now far exceeds the typical life expectancy, and in so many ways. 

Andy Lipman is 31 years old and lives with cystic fibrosis, a disease with a median life expectancy of 32 years.  But Andy’s life expectancy now far exceeds the median life expectancy, and in so many ways. 

As a child, Andy was told by several doctors that he would lack the stamina to compete with other children in sports.  In fact, doctors told his parents that it was unlikely he would live into his teens.  Despite doctors’ concerns, Andy plays USTA and ALTA matches throughout the year.  He also captains a softball team nine months out of the year and has run the Peachtree Road Race (the most popular 10-kilometer race in the world) for nine consecutive years.  On top of all of this, he also goes to the gym four to five times a week. 

Andy was Vice Chancellor and Senior Pledge Trainer at Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity and was named Most Congenial Brother his senior year.  In 1996, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia.

His experience cystic fibrosis inspired him to write Alive at 25: How I’m Beating Cystic Fibrosis in 2001.  The book has sold approximately 2,000 copies and has received wonderful reviews on Amazon.com.  (The book’s Web site can be found at www.aliveat25.org.)

Andy was also a member of Toastmasters from 2000-2003.  He completed ten speeches at the Buckhead division in 2003 to become an official Toastmaster (CTM).  He has done several motivational speeches, including being the closing speaker at the opening conference of the new Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which also featured a speech by Dana Reeve, the wife of the late Christopher Reeve).  Andy is looking to join the National Speaker’s Association to continue to gain contacts in the speaking profession.  He has also been nominated to become a part of the 2006-2007 Buckhead Business Association.

For all of his work with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Andy was nominated and ran with the Olympic Torch for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in December 2001.  He ran in Athens, Georgia, the place where his comeback against cystic fibrosis began.

Since 2000, Andy has run an annual charity softball tournament that has raised nearly $250,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  The event is held in memory of his sister, Wendy Carol Lipman, who passed away from cystic fibrosis.  A Wish for Wendy has won several awards from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, including Most Improved Event and Community Event of the Year.  (The event’s Web site can be found at www.wishforwendy.org.)  This year’s event will receive media coverage from Atlanta’s biggest sports radio station, 790 The Zone.

Andy was married in September 2002 to Andrea Herz and now lives in Norcross, Georgia.  In 2005, he completed his manuscript: A Superhero Needs No Cape.  His goal is for the story to portray an uplifting message to young adults and teenagers – something that Andy does for so many every day.

For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, please visit www.cff.org.