Courtesy photo Escanaba native Peter Frank is unicycling from Wisconsin to Arizona to raise money for the Beacon House in Marquette. People can follow his journey at www.whereispeterfrank.com.

MARQUETTE — Peter Frank’s home is a unicycle, and that’s OK by him, considering what he’s been through.

Frank, 20, whose hometown is Escanaba, is traveling by unicycle from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Phoenix to raise money for the Steve Mariucci Family Beacon House in Marquette, which provides a “home away from home” for patients receiving critical medical care and their families.

Beacon House is building a new facility in Marquette, so Frank, who started on June 28 and who as of Monday was in Oklahoma, wants to play a part in that effort.

Unicycling is his way of contributing to the Beacon House mission.

Frank needs his gear along the way, but a unicycle doesn’t exactly have a lot of storage space. So that adds a special challenge.

“It’s a lot more difficult than if I were to have nothing weighing on my unicycle, that’s for sure,” Frank said.

The 55 pounds of extra weight strapped to his unicycle in waterproof bags makes it difficult for him to even mount it.

And then he has to ride the unicycle, which involves a certain amount of balance.

“It takes about 30 feet to adjust after you mount, so for that 30 feet you’re wobbling a little bit,” Frank said. “You’re not steady. You’re not comfortable.”

That challenge hasn’t deterred him.

“Without that struggle, I’d never learn to appreciate it,” Frank said.

Frank, though, already is familiar with struggling.

When he was 14 years old, he was hiding in a leaf pile when a car ran over him. Fourteen bones, including in his back, were broken, and he had to learn how to walk again. Even now, he has three titanium rods in his body.

His family stayed at Beacon House, which was fortunate since driving back and forth to Marquette from Escanaba would have taken a financial toll.

Frank said a doctor told him he was unlikely to ride a unicycle again, which the teen interpreted as “living like a vegetable.”

“It took me a year and a half before I got the determination and the rebellious attitude to just jump on a unicycle, and there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t ridden,” said Frank, who noted he sold “everything he had” for the trip.

For the last two years, he has trained for the journey, which is a source of pride to his family.

His parents are Butch and Ellen Frank, who live in Escanaba. Ellen Frank said her son is traveling from his brother Breck’s house in Appleton to the house of his sister, Winona Syreini, who lives in Chandler, Arizona. He has one other sister, Johanna Frank, who lives in Escanaba.

“His dad and I are so very proud of him because he has had to overcome so many challenges since his accident six years ago, both physical and mental,” his mother said in an email. “He has such a positive outlook on life right now and it wasn’t always this way. He has decided in his heart and mind to push forward and change his outlook and give back.”

Ellen Frank said that Peter came home one day and announced he was going to unicycle across America in two weeks.

“He didn’t want any financial help from his parents at all,” she said. “He’s alone and doing this with the help of generous people everywhere along the way and just sharing (on) his social media.”

Social support helps

Frank, who said he embarked on his trip with just $600 in his pocket, has many supporters on Facebook who have wished him well during his travels.

Beacon House, of course, had something nice to say on Facebook.

“Just an incredible young man, and an incredible story!” it posted.

In an email, Beacon House CEO Mary Tavernini Dowling called Frank “one of the most brave and adventurous people” she’s ever met, and marvels that he’s so young and doing something so bold.

“He’s wise beyond his years and his passion to help others is astonishing,” Tavernini Dowling said. “When we first spoke about his desire to do this fundraising trip on his unicycle, I was concerned for his health and safety, but he had a plan and was ready to make it happen.”

She said that watching Frank’s journey unfold has been “inspirational and terrifying” for her.

“I’ve got some motherly protective feelings and worry about what he might be facing next, but then see the posts on social media from people he’s met who’ve helped him along the way and think, ‘He’s got this, stop worrying,'” Tavernini Dowling said. “When he told me he hoped to get on the ‘Ellen’ show to create a greater awareness for Beacon House, I told him we’d been trying to get her attention for years.

“Now that I see what he’s accomplishing, I believe he’d be one the best guests she could possibly have.”

She also addressed Frank’s previous accident.

“I will never, ever forget the time we spent with his parents when he was in the hospital,” Tavernini Dowling said. “His accident was so traumatic that we were all worried he wouldn’t make it.

“We were standing by as the medical professionals pulled every rabbit out of the hat to stabilize him, then heal him, and are absolutely in awe of how blessed we are here in Marquette to have surgeons, physicians and medical teams like we have. They are the best in the world and one of two reasons he is with us today and doing so incredibly well.”

The other reason, she noted, is the love and prayers his family poured over him — “a pretty powerful drug in itself.”

“At Beacon House, we will do anything we can to keep loved ones together in a medical crisis, and this is just about the greatest happy ending we could have possibly asked for,” Tavernini Dowling said.

Recently, Frank made a particularly poignant post on Facebook.

“I can see why people are puzzled when I walk into a bar or a store and tell people I love what I do,” he said. “Because from their perspective, they see an inefficient mode of transportation, in ridiculous weather, during a process that almost entirely removes comfort from the daily system.

“Yet, I still enjoy every day to the fullest, because after all the harsh miles, insane amounts of heat, soreness and back pain, falls and scrapes, close calls with semis and other vehicles, and waking up in a tent no taller than a coffin, I get the wonderful privilege of hearing ‘Look mommy, a unicyclist!’ as I look over to see a young child, pointing and smiling as I ride by and finish my day. There is nothing more rewarding to me than that.”

Frank said that as of Monday, about $3,000 had been raised in the last three months, with the goal to raise $100,000. He expects to finish his trip in a month and a half.

To donate to Frank’s cause and see all his social media links, visit www.whereispeterfrank.com, which also has a map of his current location.

“At every chance I get, I always try and help people,” Frank said. “I always try and give back and just be that positive influence that I want to see in the world, because someone once told me at a very difficult time in my life that I need to create the society that I want to live in, and that’s what I’m doing now.”