I thought Alaska Airlines was joking when they said Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson would pull a Boeing 737-800 a distance of 25 feet. Loaded with fuel, the aircraft weighs about 135,000 pounds. But the feat of strength was for a good cause – a national initiative dedicated to ending childhood cancer.
Alaska Airlines invited me to join them at Boeing Field to witness this unique event. The weather was perfect and the stands were filled with spectators who were cheering on “Team Russell,” led by Russell Wilson, and “Team Joel,” led by actor/comedian Joel McHale.
The plane pull was arranged to raise money and awareness for Strong Against Cancer, an initiative inspired by the immunotherapy discoveries at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. One of the neat things about Russell Wilson is that he regularly visits the kids at the Seattle Children’s Hospital. He learned about immunotherapy during one of these visits, which is why he was so eager to take part in the event.
For the plane pull, Russell Wilson and Joel McHale were each joined by a team of 18 people who competed to pull the Boeing 737-800 25 feet in the shortest amount of time. After checking for deflated tires, Team Russell successfully pulled the jet 25 feet in 16.9 seconds, with Team Joel coming in at over a minute (still not too shabby for a comedian).
The event was a lot of fun to watch and it was thrilling to meet Russell Wilson in person. I was impressed with how he took time to shake hands, give hugs, to sign autographs, and to even give high fives to the crowd. What a great guy!
Even though the plane pull is over, you can donate $10 to Strong Against Cancer by texting “TEAMJOEL” or “TEAMRUSSELL” to 501501. It is a great cause that will benefit countless children. You can also visit strongagainstcancer.org for more info about the organization’s efforts to cure childhood cancers.
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