Rising from sickness to strength, Enumclaw resident Butch Holman will spend his Memorial Day weekend performing a grueling workout competition in honor of a heroic Navy SEAL.

It’s been a long time getting there for Holman, who was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes difficulty breathing and digesting, makes lung infections more common and makes it hard to gain weight.

Holman was in-and-out of the hospital as a kid and constantly having to cough and clear his throat. From a young age, his parents were told Holman would not enjoy a full life and would eventually die from his illness.

The average lifespan for people with cystic fibrosis who live to adulthood is 44 years, according to medlineplus.gov. At first, Holman said, doctors said he probably wouldn’t make it past 16. Then, 24, and then, 32.

“They kept telling me ‘You’re doing good, but expect that you won’t live forever,’ ” Holman said.

So in his 20s, Holman didn’t take things too seriously and spent a lot of time partying: “Why would I try hard if I’m going to die early? That was my mindset.”

Not anymore. Holman, now 38, is “doing a lot better than anyone thought,” he said. Holman is still lean and has to clear his throat occasionally, but he’s built muscle, endurance and lung strength from living a healthier lifestyle and working out.

He said he started changing his focus around 28. And like many men, his then-girlfriend, now-fiancée Jessie Walker pushed him to take his health more seriously.

“He told me on our first official date that he had cystic fibrosis … and he told me he was supposed to be going to the doctor every three months (but) hadn’t been in 2.5 years.”

Walker got Holman’s “butt into gear” for a hospital check up, he said, which led to him using a new breakthrough medicine called Trikafta to manage his cystic fibrosis. That’s helped him gain more than 30 pounds over a year and a half, and his lung health is improving day by day.

“(In) all my workouts, the weights have gone up,” Holman said. “I feel stronger and more confident in myself.”

Then last year, Holman learned about a workout that would put his progress to the test.

The Murph is a workout challenge dedicated to Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, who in 2005 was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan. Only 29, Murphy had stepped out of cover into gunfire in order to radio back to headquarters to get help for the rest of his four-man SEAL team. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2017.

The challenge, which raises scholarship funds in Murphy’s honor, goes like this: 1 mile run. 100 pullups. 200 pushups. 300 squats. Then another 1 mile run. And don’t forget to do the whole thing clad in a 20 pound vest.

Walker is proud of how hard Holman is pushing himself – in fact, she admits, it can sometimes be a little annoying how much effort he puts into the gym and his strict diet.

“I’m really excited for it [The Murph] to be over,” she said, “so I can maybe have him back a little bit.”

Despite his health condition, Holman’s spent months training for a challenge that would put most people gasping for breath. Instead of giving up and saying “Ok, I’m going to die,” Holman said, he chose to set goals and focus on what he could do while he’s alive.

“Every time I hit a goal, it gives me more confidence to set another one,” Holman said. “There’s days I don’t want to workout, or run. But I keep going, and going, I finish my goal or run and get home, and I feel so happy that I kept going.”

You can learn more or sign up for The Murph at https://themurphchallenge.com.

Butch Holman, an Enumclaw resident with cystic fibrosis, is performing a grueling workout in honor of a Navy SEAL this Memorial Day weekend. Photo by Alex Bruell