Three years after stroke, Kirk ‘Hustles up the Hancock’

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) climbed one of the largest buildings in the country on Sunday, three years after suffering a stroke.

The senator climbed to the top of the Hancock Center in downtown Chicago with a 12-year-old stroke survivor, Jackson Cunningham, as well as a man who had been hit by a car. The trio made the climb as part of the “Hustle up the Hancock” charity event, which raised money for lung diseases including pulmonary fibrosis, the disease that claimed the life of Kirk’s father.

{mosads}“My battle buddy Jackson has inspired me to never give up and to work hard every day during my recovery, and it is my goal to offer the same inspiration to those who are suffering,” Kirk said in a statement.

The two fellow climbers are part of Kirk’s support group for people with disabilities that met with Kirk for the first time last Friday.

Jackson sent Kirk a letter soon after the senator’s stroke that encouraged him to “never give up,” and the two became pen pals.

Kirk is one of the leading proponents for stroke research in the Senate and has introduced legislation to help stroke survivors. He’s also repeatedly climbed parts of the Willis Tower — formerly known as the Sears Tower —numerous times since his stroke.

Kirk is one of the four senators up for reelection in 2016 from states that President Obama carried in 2008 and 2012, and one potential candidate has already raised Kirk’s health as a campaign issue.

Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who is weighing a bid to challenge Kirk from the right, told the Chicago Sun-Times last week that the senator should “provide whatever medical information he needs to provide to show that he’s capable of doing this job.”

Walsh served one term in Congress but was defeated in 2012 by Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

Duckworth has also said that she’s debating a bid to unseat Kirk.

A Kirk aide said that the plan to participate in the “Hustle up the Hancock” had been in the works for months. The aide added that Kirk has kept a rigorous schedule, and will continue to do so as he gets closer to reelection.