Muscle Fitness Muscle_Fitness_February_2016 | Page 63

HOW TO HELP You can help provide for Matt ’ s son , Cebran , at gofundme . com / klutkaskrusaders medication and escape ; how he was making as much time as possible to spend with his son , Cebran ; how he met his girlfriend while he was sick . Then he told me what he had learned . “ The things I used to worry about or obsess over , I know they ’ re just meaningless ,” he said . “ Time is the most precious currency we have . You never know when your time is up . You have to take advantage of every moment you have with your friends and family and loved ones because that can be taken away in an instant . Everything else can be replaced .” It ’ s the kind of thing that ’ s a meaningless platitude coming out of anyone else ’ s mouth — share bait for Instagram . But coming from Matt , who stopped periodically throughout the call to cough , the tumors in his lungs making it hard to breathe , it punched me in the gut . What bullshit had I been annoyed by or upset about moments before ? It was embarrassing to think about . At that moment , I was just thankful I had closed the door to my office . No one had to see that I wasn ’ t handling the call very well . I tried to hide it from Matt , but by the time I had fully broken down , it was pointless . I asked if he must be used to it . Yes , he was , but he embraced his role as an inspiration to others . “ My friends have been awesome ,” he said . “ They come to visit , and some of them get upset . I just say , ‘ Hey , I ’ m still here . I still feel pretty good . There ’ s no reason to be upset . Let ’ s be happy and go do something fun .’ I try to motivate people and make them happy .” A man with terminal cancer cheering everyone else up — including me . I pointed out the absurdity of that , and we had a good laugh . The story I wrote about Matt went into the December 2015 issue of M & F . Given the circumstances , we put the story online first so it could be shared . Dwayne “ The Rock ” Johnson , our cover guy and guest editor for December , asked to see some of the other stories that were going into his issue . When he read Matt ’ s story , he asked for a phone number . Fifteen minutes later , they were chatting like old friends , swapping war stories about the gym . Right after that , The Rock took to social media to share what an amazing experience he had just had . I knew the feeling . Because at the end of my call with Matt — a man I never met face-to-face — I found myself blurting out , “ I love you , man .” He didn ’ t hesitate to say it back . I also told him that I had no clue about what his idea of God might be , but I was certain that we ’ d meet one day . He agreed . Matt lived another two months — and what a two months they were . On top of training , he raced Ferraris , went on the sidelines to see the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Alabama Crimson Tide , and spent a lot of time with his son , his girlfriend , and his parents . For those close to Matt , I can ’ t imagine how much his passing hurts . But I also know they ’ re lucky to have had such an incredible person in their lives . If time is the most precious commodity we have , it was especially true for Matt . He chose to give me a half hour of that time , and my life is far richer for it .
Dwayne Johnson ’ s Instagram support of Matt Klutka .