ALS Walk4Life

Hello Friends:

In 2007, not too long after the 4th of July, my Dad passed away.  My Dad had lived with a rapidly declining quality of life as he succumbed to ALS, a neuro-muscular disease that degenerates muscle while leaving the mind intact.  That year, and every year since, my family has tried to raise some money for the Les Turner Foundation, which researches cures and provides assistance to for those suffering from ALS.

There are a lot of causes out there to which any one person could donate, and I am sure everyone is inundated with pleas for donations.  I am sorry for adding on to that.

But, I can, with confidence, say that the Les Turner Foundation has done a lot of good with the money raised during this fundraiser and the others they operate.  More than just assisting the families and sufferers, the Les Turner Foundation has recently funded research which made massive strides in understanding the disease and moving towards researching a cure.  Researchers at Northwestern University just last year had a massive breakthrough, finding a common cause in all ALS cases.  The donations made to my team and others had a direct impact on Les Turner's ability to fund this research.

A lot has happened in my life and the lives of my family since my Dad passed away:
- I graduated from SIU with a MA in English Lit and I am nearly finished with my PhD from Aberystwyth.
- My sister Brianne got married to a great guy and landed a prestigious job as a public defense attorney for the state of Wisconsin.
- My younger brother Kiernan published two books and is working on a third.
- My older brother Kevin won a massive grant for his research at Notre Dame, as well as having a hand in the Higgs boson research, which the science community is really excited about.
- My sister Beth had her third child, and her husband was promoted to an executive level position with AMC (the movie theater company).
- My Mom has moved into a gorgeous three bedroom house.
There are a lot of major events that are going to happen soon, between my graduation from Aberystwyth and my wedding next summer, which I would really like to share with my Dad.

The reason why I participate in this walk is so that other people won't have to go through their lives without Dads, Moms, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, or friends.  I know people have to die, and that had my Dad not died of ALS, he would eventually have left me.

But he didn't need to die from ALS.  And with a donation - even a donation of $10, $5...whatever - the Les Turner Foundation can work towards a cure.

Thanks for reading.

Keegan

To donate, go to my Fundraiser Page.