Polar Plunge benefits Pinckneyville man
<p dir="ltr"><span>EDITOR'S NOTE: See more photos from the Polar Plunge in the Jan. 20 print edition of the Herald Tribune and Steeleville Ledger.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>As has been tradition for the past several years, people took the plunge into the icy waters of Lake Drink-A-Lot on Saturday for the ninth annual Steeleville Polar Plunge.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Twenty-four people took the jump, while the event itself was a fundraiser for Pinckneyville resident Jason Houghland.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Houghland, 32, has Von Hippel Lindau, which causes abnormal growth of blood vessels in up to 10 parts of the body, resulting in patients having to battle tumors throughout their life.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Houghland has been battling the disease since he was 23. In the last 10 years, he’s had operations to remove cancerous tumors from his kidneys; avastin injections and photodynamic therapy in his left eye to treat a tumor partially blocking his optic nerve and recently, he had brain surgery to remove two tumors from his cerebellum to relieve pressure inside his head.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>VHL is a condition that must be monitored every six months and treated when necessary.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“It’s great,” Houghland said of the event. “I know but probably a handful of people here. The outpouring of support from these guys doing this for me, someone they didn’t grow up with or see every day.”</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>T-shirt and sweatshirt sales, along with raffles for a Smith & Wesson 9mm, St. Louis Blues tickets and a $100 gift card from Dave’s Food Center added to the proceeds.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The event became a fundraiser for people in need several years ago and started out in 2009 as merely an idea when Travis Schaber, Jeff Mulholland and Dustin Wathen decided to jump into a body of water in the dead of winter.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The next year, Schaber, Mulholland, Wathen, Chelsea Bradley, Jennie Frederking and Jeremy Lohman all took the plunge in front of a crowd of about 25 people.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Wathen and Mulholland had previously participated in the New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge at the Kaskaskia Riverhouse in New Athens, which did not take place this year as the business closed its doors a few days before its event.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Wathen’s parents, Wally and Vicky Wathen, provide the boat dock and lake the Polar Plunge event takes place.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“It makes me very proud to be from a community like this one,” Schaber said. “People show up not really knowing who it is.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“No matter how you are, there’s somebody always worse.”</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Schaber noted the most jumpers the event has had has been around 65, while there are roughly 20 people who commit to the plunge every year.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“It’s amazing to see people who come back and do it every year,” he said.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The jump is typically scheduled for 2 p.m., but usually occurs about 2:30 p.m. once everyone is gathered and has changed. The rules say that jumpers must only wear a swimsuit and become fully submerged in the water.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>This year’s event was held despite an ice storm that hit the region early Friday morning. Last year’s event came shortly after the New Year’s Flood.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“With the bad weather, you never know who’s going to come,” Schaber said. “You just hope people show up.”</span>