[donnao]

Hello fellow flyfishers,

Some of you may have attended the GGACC Spey-O-Rama in April this
year, and watched Knut and Trond Syrstad demonstrate double handed underhand casting. Knut Syrstad competed and came in 2nd in the casting
competition. Knut's cancer has come back and need help in funding
further treatment, possibly here in the United States. Knut and Trond
are twins and they are only 34 years old.

I just came back from a great spey clinic (underhand casting) with Trond
Syrstad in Norway, and had a great time. Enjoyed the river and the
people. I was able to visit with Knut. He has undergone surgery and
chemo treatment. He almost didn't make it during his last chemo
treatment while I was there but made it through somehow, he was driving
the next day which was a miracle! There is a treatment fund with bank
account set up for him by some of his friends and I am posting this information
so anyone who would like to contribute to help can. The link to the
webpage is http://www.syrstad.no/aksjon-knut/aksjon-knut.html (Norwegian).

Here's an translated version of the webpage with the bank account information :

>>>>
Support action for Knut Syrstad's fight against cancer
(This action is taken by us at our own initiative)

The following information has been provided by Knut and Trond Syrstad,
who reside in Lokken Verk in Orkdal.

On May 7, Knut Syrstad was told by his doctors that he has had a
recurrence of cancer. The illness is in an early stage, as both brothers
have regular check-ups (both have had cancer in the past). Knut's cancer
has spread to other parts of the body.

Knut has undergone treatment since May 13 at the hospital in Trondheim
and have discovered that the treatment for this form of cancer is much more
advanced abroad and wish to be able to pursue this. The treatment is
expensive, and the brothers are unable to afford it on their own.

In order to help out with funds for the treament, we have opened an
account where people who wish to help can make donations. The funds will
be transferred to Knut's account on an on-going basis.

This is a voluntary action. Each person who donates will remain
anonymous. We will not publish any lists of names of donors, or publish
any information about the support action.

The account that has been set up is :


Businesses who wish to donate can mark their donation "Support action
for Knut Syrstad's fight against cancer" if they wish to make it tax
deductible.
(Not sure if it's deductible in USA, probably not)

The account will be accessible only to the contact persons for this
support action. We appreciate it if you will help us spread the word.

In case there are funds left over once Knut's treatment is completed, we
will establish a fund in
support for cancer research in Norway.

Rune Marthinse, Anne Jansen and Boye Backsather

Lillehammer 05/12, 2004
<<<<



Thank you very much for your attention. Please help if you can, Knut is such a great guy and talented caster!

 

[juro]

CND (Nobuo and I) will donate a rod for auction, 100% will go to the fund. Sean I will contact you on this topic shortly.

Knut, we stand with you brother.

 

[donnao]

That's wonderflul, thank you Juro and Nobuo.

 

[donnao]

This is for anyone interested to wire transfer funds to the bank acount I listed in support of Knut.

Please hold off from the wire transfer until I find out additional information about the account, the banks require a matching account holder name and address and I need to get that. I will post this after I have verified the wire transfer works.

 

[lastcaststeve]

Dear Donna,

I have several spey and single handers, as well as many lines that I would like to contribute to the cause. One of the highlights to my recent trip to England, Scotland and a few days fishing with friends on the Gaula, was spending a wonderful afternoon with the Syrstad brothers. Both Knut and Trond made a pretty special impression upon me down in San Francisco as they did to so many. It was a special treat to hook up with them and enjoy a beer together on a sunny afternoon along the banks of one of their home rivers. The Syrstads are wonderful teachers, awesome fisherman, and have given a tremendous amount to the sport! It was, and is a priviledge to know them both and call them friends. I hope the forum readers will, as Juro, Nubuo, yourself, my buddy Way Yin, etc.., will jump in and lend a helping hand to these magnificant brothers! The spey community is a small but world wide community!

steve

 

[donnao]

Dear Steve,

Thank you for supporting Knut!

It sounded like a wonderful trip and so glad you spent some time with the Syrstad brothers. It was indeed an honor for me to be taught personally by Trond, who is an awesome teacher, as a result my underhand casting has vastly improved. On top of that, it was an even a greater honor to have spent an evening fishing on the Orkla River with the brothers and Goran Andersson who was there as well. A special trip that will be remembered always.

Donna

 

[Neil]

Steve,Juro,and all concered.
Would it be possible for one guy or organisation to set up a bank account where one could send their donation.
I believe people who are willing to make a donation would be happier sending their money to a local source,Canada or the U.S.,rather than messing about with foreign bank account's.
Any banker's out there willing to take on the job.Fred!!
I would be more than happy to do the job but I think there are more suitable guys out there associated with banks that would make the task easier.
Let's all pull together one this one guy's.If we can't help our own who can?.
Regards Speyladdie.

 

[donnao]

Neil and all concerned,

I have inquired at a couple of banks about opening an account for this. I've been told that it is difficult to open a trust account for Knut since he does not reside in USA, they suggested that one of us open a personal bank account, and donations would be wired or made payable to the account holder. This person will then transfer the funds to Knut Syrstad's account or make disbursements as needed for the treatment. The bank account in Norway is basically set up this way as well.

I will be happy to open a separate bank account for contributions towards Knut's treatment if you guys are OK with that, or someone else might want to volunteer to do this.

I do have the complete Norway bank account information now, but I am waiting for the wire transfer I made today to complete before I post it for everyone.

I called Knut last Friday (8/13) and he sounded good. He told me he felt a lot better than when I saw him (2 weeks before). He will have tests done at the hospital in 2 weeks. What happens next will be based on the test results, which I hope will show that Knut's condition is improving.

Donna

 

[lastcaststeve]

Dear Donna,
I think you would be a wonderful contact person! If you need any assistance in any way, please don't hesitate to count me in. Maybe we can get Sean or Juro to help in setting up an auction to help raise funds for the cause. Please continue to keep us posted..thankyou for the update on Knuts' condition.

Steve

 

[Neil]

Donna.
I don't know you personaly but if Steve says your the girl for the job then I think that's good enough for all of us.
Please keep us informed as to what we can do to help the cause.
Speyladdie

 

[sean]

I would be more than happy to setup the auctions with our software and we can have the money sent directly to Donna.

If this will work let me know and we can start up a separate donation thread to start collecting a list of items.

-sean

 

[donnao]

Sean, Neil, all concerned,

Since I started this, and you guys feel comfortable with me handling the account for Knut's treatment fund here in the USA, I would be happy to do so.

Thank you Sean, it'll be great if you could run the auctions of donated items.

Since I already wired in my contribution to the Norway account, in order for me to open a new bank account, I will need a few contributions for Knut in form of a check, made payable to "Donna O'Sullivan", please mark in the reference/memo field "Knut Syrstad Cancer Treatment Fund" . My mailing address is:

Donna O'Sullivan
316 Philip Drive
Daly City, CA 94015
USA

Once I have the bank account opened, I will post the details to enable wire transfers.

Thank you all for supporting Knut, you guys are great!

Donna

 

[lastcaststeve]

Dear Donna,

You should have my initial donation by monday morning which should hopefully get the account set up. I have a number of rods, and equipment I can donate as well. Thankyou Sean for helping with the auction setup...as soon as you get the donation thread started, I will post a list of items. I think we all owe it to each other to jump in here and lend a hand to the Syrstads, they've given a tremendous amount to the sport, and it would be nice to think that everyone could pull together to give something back. I will be contacting SA and G. Loomis for possible auction item donations...everyone of us must have some piece of equipment we don't use as much as we should...donate it to a great cause...

steve

 

[donnao]

Steve, All,

Thank you Steve, I will set up a bank account at my bank once I get your check.

Here are the complete Norwegian bank account information for those who wish to wire contributions to this account opened by Anne Jansen for Knut. I have made a wire transfer to this account and it went through OK.

You can mark this as: "Support action for Knut Syrstad's fight against cancer" .

Thanks,
Donna

 

[donnao]

New Bank Account set up for Knut Syrstad Cancer Treatment Fund

Steve, All,

Steve, thank you so much for your generous contribution supporting Knut's fight against cancer. I have opened a new bank account with your check today. Here is the bank account information:


Bank:
Washington Mutual Bank, FA
Daly City-Gellert Blvd. Financial Center 1118
326 Gellert Boulevard
Daly City, CA 94015
USA


Account Holder Name and Address:
Donna Marie O'Sullivan
316 Philip Drive
Daly City, CA 94015
USA

Please send wire transfer directly to the account above, or send a check made payable to the Account Holder Name and Address above.

Please mark contributions "Knut Syrstad Cancer Treatment Fund" in the memo/comment field.

Thank you all for joining in this support action for Knut! I will let the Syrstad's know about this new account and transfer the funds per Knut's instructions.

Donna

 

[Reelspey]

Donna,

As steve says, the Speycasting community is relatively small, we should all do what we can to help. I will do what I can to raise awarness over here.
I would like to help by way of the auction. Has anything been set up yet? Michelle is coming over to fish in a few weeks time, it may be possible for her to take some items back with her.

Please let me know if this would be OK.

Ian Gordon

 

[juro]

Ian -

That sounds great! Sean, Dana and I are going to set up an auction for items we have currently but anything you can add would be fantastic.

I will talk to Sean today about the logistics of the auction and we'll try to get this going right away.

Best,
Juro

 

[donnao]

Ian, Juro,

Thank you guys for supporting Knut and getting the auction going.

So far, I have already received several contributions towards the fund totalling $1250. I am really touched by this tremendous response from our fly fishing community to help Knut.

Donna

 

[donnao]

Update re Knut

I just spoke with Knut. He's feeling better, put a little weight back on but as Knut put it, "not fat yet". He had one test last Friday at the hospital and they did find some cancer cells still. Knut said he will need to undergo another chemotherapy treatment as soon as he is strong enough to do so. I told him that the fly fishing community world wide wish him well and contributing towards his treatment fund. Knut was really touched.

Thanks to all of you for supporting Knut!

Donna

 

[Gary Schaefer]

Support for Knut

Dear Donna,

My name is Gary Schaefer and I have been with G. Loomis for close to 20 years. I am now the new products and Marketing manager and had the oportunity to meet Trond in Oslo last December. He was great to talk to and I enjoyed our conversation over, what else, 2 handed rods. I did not have the opportunity to meet Knut but I was told that they carry the same genuine charactoristics. I hope to meet him some day soon.

Yes you are all right in that this industry is very small and we all need to support each other through both the good times and the bad. We all have a tendency to focus on what we think is important and forget that what really keeps our souls alive is relationships and true concern for someone in need.

When Steve Choate told me about Knut and what all his friends were doing I knew I wanted to do something. I heard that there will be an auction for Knut and myself and G. Loomis would love to donate a couple of our new 2 handed rods. I could ever have Steve Rajeff and Steve Choate sign them for him. It is the least we could do.

Please let me know the what and the where and we will get the ball rolling as soon as we hear from you.

Thanks again for letting me have the opportunity to speak and please let Knut know that my family and I will have him in our prayers daily!

Tight lines!

Gary Schaefer