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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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Six women plan to swim the English Channel in July, hoping to help a friend and neighbor and the thousands of people diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, by raising funds for research. The relay team has partnered with Ann Arbor Active Against ALS (A2A3), which was formed by friends of a University of Michigan professor who was diagnosed with ALS in 2008. The swimmers are attempting a two-way crossing and hope to break the current world record of 18 hours and 59 minutes – just before the 2012 Olympic Games kick off in London.
Three of the six women are full-time moms, but all are former collegiate swimmers (one a water polo player) who were looking for a way to use their passion and talent to boost awareness of a disease with no treatment or cure. “We’re all swimmers and enjoy a challenge. Swimming the Channel is the Mt. Everest of swimming,” says Amanda Mercer, one of the swimmers and an attorney with two children. “But the primary benefit is the chance to increase awareness of ALS and raise money for research. We hope crossing the Channel catches people’s attention and educates them about a horrific disease that will not be cured unless we find the money needed for research.”
The Channel crossing, from England to France and back, is in direct opposition to the devastating effects of ALS:
Those diagnosed with ALS are eventually robbed of their ability to be active.
These women will undertake an extremely challenging physical endeavor.
An ALS diagnosis often leads to seclusion and isolation.
This is a relay of six; they have each other to rely upon.
Those diagnosed with ALS are given an average life expectancy of 2 to 5 years.
Time is of the essence to find a cure, thus the goal is to break the world record.
The relay team consists of Mercer, Jenny Sutton Jalet, Melissa Karjala, Susan Butcher and Bethany Williston, all who live in Ann Arbor, and Emily Kreger who moved from Ann Arbor to pursue a General Surgery residency at the Detroit Medical Center. Mercer, Jalet and Williston are moms. Mercer is an attorney; Jalet is the director of Premium Seating and Transportation in the athletic department at the University of Michigan, Williston is a part-time swim coach; Butcher is a high school athletic trainer, and Karjala is a research administrator at the University of Michigan and pursuing a master’s degree in education.
The women know first-hand the effects of ALS. Their friend and neighbor, Bob Schoeni, inspired the formation of A2A3. Schoeni is 47 years old and three years into his diagnosis. He continues to work at U-M's Institute for Social Research, and also coaches his 14- and 12-year-old daughters. Schoeni says he’s in awe of the women’s efforts. "It's an amazing commitment. It gives me the energy I need to keep pushing on. This is an inspiring group of women," Schoeni says.
Donations are being accepted at the relay team’s Web site, www.channelforals.org. The donations will be used to support research efforts, not to cover the team’s travel costs. Supporters can also choose to virtually cross the Channel with the team, by pledging to swim the same distance (21 miles) or walk or run 73.5 miles (a swimming to running ratio) on their own. For $20, they are registered as participants and get a commemorative pin. Also available is an ITunes application called Kento ALS. For $.99, with proceeds going to ALS research, you can download the game to your iPhone or iPad for a jigsaw picture puzzle challenge.
The Facts About ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. As motor neurons die, the brain can no longer control muscles or signal them to move. The body becomes paralyzed while the mind usually remains unaffected. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death.
There is currently no effective treatment or cure for ALS.
It strikes both men and women, generally between the ages of 40 and 75, although many patients are young adults in their 20s and 30s.
In the US there are currently more than 30,000 people living with ALS and over 5,000 people in the US are newly diagnosed with ALS each year.
In Michigan, it is estimated that there are over 1,000 people with ALS and 200 who are newly diagnosed on an annual basis.
ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries.
50% of patients with ALS live 3 to 5 years, 20% live 5 to 10 years, and 10% survive 10 years or more.
Sporadic ALS is the most common form and accounts for 90-95% if all cases of ALS. It occurs randomly throughout the population. Familial ALS, an inherited form of the disease, accounts for the remaining cases.
Michigan is currently facing the second highest rate of ALS diagnosis in the United States.
For more information or interviews, contact Mary F. Masson, 734-846-8558, mfmasson@comcast.net or Amanda Mercer, 734-761-2188, amandamercer@att.net
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