CF CornermanAlways in your corner…

Our story

I’m Ray Poole. This is the story of my wife Rebecca, her fight with cystic fibrosis, and what I learned from standing in her corner.

Ray

I’m an engineer and program manager by training, and a fighter by hobby.

I earned a mechanical and materials engineering degree from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Indiana University. My career has run through operations, engineering, product management, and program management, and I hold a patent and a lean six-sigma certification.

The fighting came first. I’ve won two national championships, hold a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and have trained and competed in Muay Thai, Jujitsu, and kickboxing. Nearly thirty years in martial arts taught me that nobody does it alone.

Rebecca’s illness pulled me into the CF Foundation, where I’ve volunteered and raised money for more than a decade. I was named “Milwaukee’s Finest” in 2013 and won the Eaton Stover Volunteerism Award in 2014.

Off the clock I work on my cars, lift weights, and entertain friends and family. I don’t enjoy running and I’m not good at it, but I do it anyway…like a boss.

Our mission

“The mission of CF Cornerman is to support curing cystic fibrosis, help families facing a major illness, and share knowledge and experience. Always in your corner…”

In the fight against CF

  • Board chair, CF Foundation Central Ohio chapter, since January 2026
  • Leadership council, CF Foundation Volunteer Engagement, 2023 to present
  • Volunteer Leadership Conference: co-chair in 2020 and 2022, and host committee member
  • Team leader: Team Beccalicious at Cincinnati Great Strides, and a national team (new in 2026)

See the full volunteer record

Give to Team BeccaliciousSee where we stand

Rebecca

Rebecca is the fighter in this story. I just stand in her corner.

Rebecca was eight months old when she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. She grew up riding horses, hiking, and running cross country, with CF along for every mile. She graduated third in her high school class, then earned a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic genetic sciences from the University of Connecticut, summa cum laude, with honors research at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. She built a career supporting clinical drug research.

“I am not my disease.”Rebecca, in Just Breathe

In 2014 her lungs failed. She spent 172 days on a ventilator, and doctors told us she was too sick for a transplant. She did the work anyway, building her strength a little at a time with a ventilator and a walker, until the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center listed her. On June 18, 2015, she received a double lung transplant. “I owe my life to two angels: my donor and Ray!” she told Woman’s World.

Nine years later her kidneys began to fail. Her father didn’t hesitate to step up as her living donor, and in November 2024 Rebecca received his kidney.

Today strength is the goal. Rebecca lifts weights and has been running. In 2015 she couldn’t reach up to scratch her own face.

Watch Rebecca’s story in three short videos from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Counting on You series.

Rebecca Poole smiling at the camera, with long auburn hair and glasses, resting her cheek on her hand and wearing a pink patterned blouse.
Portrait by Ian Ross Pettigrew.

Ray’s record with the CF Foundation

Volunteering since 2013, from leading teams to chairing a board.

More than $140,000raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation since 2013, across our own pages and the teams Ray has led.

Leadership

  • Board chair, Central Ohio chapter, since January 2026
  • Leadership board, Greater Cincinnati chapter, 2017 to 2019 and 2023 to present
  • Leadership board, Wisconsin chapter, 2013 to 2014
  • Leadership council, Volunteer Engagement, 2023 to present
  • Tomorrow’s Leaders chair, 2017 to 2019
  • Volunteer Leadership Conference: co-chair in 2020 (virtual) and 2022, and host committee member

Events and fundraising

  • Milwaukee’s Finest: named a Finest in 2013, Wisconsin chapter
  • Cycle for Life team leader: 2013, 2014, and 2017 through 2023
  • Xtreme Hikes: Wisconsin coach and hike-day guide (2013), then Yosemite (2022), Vail (2023), Grand Canyon (2025), and Palo Duro Canyon (2026)
  • Great Strides team leader: 2024, 2025, and 2026
  • National team leader: new in 2026

Speaking and conferences

  • Keynote: Transplant miniCON (2018) and Next Breath (2022)
  • Emcee: Cincinnati Gala (2024) and Bourbon and Bubbles (2019)
  • Event speaker: golf outings (2014 and 2019), Cycle for Life (2017), the Wisconsin gala (2017), and Cocktails for the Cause (2017)
  • Facilitator: breakout rooms at the Self-care and Relationships miniCON and FamilyCON (2018)
  • Volunteer Leadership Conference sessions: Finest panel (2014), volunteer spotlight (2018), virtual events panel (2019), and strategy sessions (2019)

Committees and honors

  • Post-transplant guidelines committee, workgroup 2, 2018 to 2019
  • Blog committee, 2022 to 2023
  • Cocktails for the Cause committee, 2017
  • Milwaukee’s Finest, 2013, and the Eaton Stover Volunteerism Award, 2014

In the news

Local TV, newspapers, podcasts, and a TEDx stage have told Rebecca’s story and Ray’s.

  • CBS 58 Milwaukee, 2013: an interview after the Milwaukee’s Finest campaign.
  • Local 12 Cincinnati: the book release, and the Hospital Comfort Kit.
  • Woman’s World, March 19, 2018: “We find joy in every moment now!” by Marti Attoun, page 42.
  • TEDxStripDistrict, February 2018: The case for realistic optimism.

See all coverage

Thumbnail for the Local 12 Cincinnati story: a husband’s book of love and lessons, with two photos of Ray and Rebecca from 2015.

How we got here

Twenty-eight years, a lot of hospital rooms, and a lot to be grateful for.

  1. January 1998

    We meet

    We met at the University of Connecticut. Early on, Rebecca told me she had CF and asked if I knew what that was. I said of course. I did not. She handed me an eight-page technical article, which is the hazard of dating a cytogenetics major. I read it. She was worth it.

  2. 2009

    Life on the water

    Long before any of the hospital rooms.

    Ray and Rebecca sitting close together on a boat, smiling, with trees along the water behind them.
    Summer, 2009.
  3. December 2014

    She looks pretty healthy, right?

    This was taken nine days before Rebecca went into respiratory failure. Looks can be deceiving. We knew that one day she would need a lung transplant, but we thought that was a couple of years away.

    Rebecca smiling in a kitchen with a thin oxygen tube under her nose, and Ray leaning in behind her with a Hulk mug on the table.
    Nine days before respiratory failure.
  4. December 31, 2014

    Show up

    On New Year’s Eve, Rebecca went into respiratory failure and was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. They told me she would never breathe on her own without a double lung transplant, and then they said she was too sick to qualify for one.

    We began 2015 with a prognosis of days to weeks. She would spend 172 days on the ventilator and 219 in the hospital. I learned the first lesson that morning: show up.

    The hard days begin. These photos show Rebecca on a ventilator. Show themHide these photos
    Rebecca asleep in a hospital bed on a ventilator with a thumb raised on one hand.
    December 31, 2014.
    Rebecca asleep in an ICU bed on a ventilator, with a handwritten Happy New Year message on a whiteboard behind her.
    January 4, 2015.
  5. Early 2015

    Walking was possible

    I learned that walking with a ventilator was possible, even though talking was not. Building her strength to walk again gave Rebecca a goal, whether or not she qualified for a transplant.

    Rebecca sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, looking back at the camera with a grin, with a walker and ventilator beside her.
    Pillows, a walker, and a smile.
  6. April 13, 2015

    Fresh air

    Outside, in the sunshine. You have to celebrate the small victories, because they add up to big victories. (Lesson 12)

    Rebecca in a wheelchair outdoors with a breathing tube and monitor, smiling beside Ray, who wears a hospital gown and sits on a bench.
    On a bench, outside.
  7. May 2015

    Laughing anyway

    If you have the opportunity, laugh. Rebecca did, with a mask on her head. (Lesson 16)

    Rebecca smiling in a hospital chair with a white face mask resting on top of her head like a hat.
    Rebecca, wearing a mask as a hat.
  8. June 7, 2015

    Her 38th birthday

    Spent in the hospital, with a banner in the window and a slice of cheesecake. Look for the things that bring joy, and make them part of your routine. (Lesson 15)

    Ray in a protective gown holding a slice of cheesecake next to Rebecca, who smiles in a hospital bed.
    Cheesecake.
    Rebecca resting in a hospital bed in front of a window with a handmade Happy Birthday Rebecca banner.
    The banner.
  9. June 18, 2015

    The transplant

    After five consecutive transplant hospitals said no, the Pittsburgh program listed Rebecca. The call came on June 17, and on June 18, 2015, she received a double lung transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

    This photo shows Rebecca in intensive care. Show itHide this photo
    Rebecca in an ICU bed covered by a large inflatable warming blanket, surrounded by monitors and IV pumps.
    June 18, 2015.
  10. June 18, 2016

    One year to the day

    A lung-shaped cake for her lungiversary. Recovery was slow, with setbacks along the way. Two steps forward and one step back is still an improvement. (Lesson 8)

    Rebecca smiling in a kitchen doorway, holding a box with a lung-shaped cake decorated with red airways.
    One year.
  11. 2023

    Life after

    A boat in Italy with nowhere to be, and a podium at the CF Foundation’s Volunteer Leadership Conference, which I co-chaired in 2022. This is what the fight is for.

    Ray and Rebecca sitting together on the back of a boat, with a tall stone bridge arching over a rocky cove behind them.
    Italy, 2023.
    Ray speaking at a podium marked Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, smiling.
    Volunteer Leadership Conference, 2023.
  12. 2024

    A regular dinner

    An ordinary meal out, which is the whole point.

    Ray and Rebecca in sunglasses at an outdoor table with plates of pasta, smiling at the camera.
    Dinner out, 2024.
  13. November 2024

    Another gift, from her father

    Nine years after her lung transplant, Rebecca’s kidneys began to fail. Her father didn’t hesitate to step up as her living donor, and in November 2024 she received his kidney. On the day we were released to go home, we stood beside the Bell of Hope and Gratitude. Rebecca’s sign said it best: Grateful.

    Ray and Rebecca smiling beside a hospital bell under a Transplant Center sign. Rebecca holds a sign that says Grateful.
    Going home, November 2024.
  14. September 2025

    Dressed up

    A black-tie evening out.

    Ray in a tuxedo and bow tie and Rebecca in a black dress, smiling together against a white backdrop.
    September 2025.
  15. August 2026

    Still in her corner

    At Pipeline to a Cure, a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation event, I carried Rebecca for the camera. Still her cornerman, still fighting for a cure.

    Ray lifting Rebecca in his arms in front of a Pipeline to a Cure backdrop, both laughing.
    Pipeline to a Cure, 2026.
Fight with usRead the book