ALS Association
What is ALS?
ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. Ending the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, the disease is still most closely associated with his name. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 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. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
Why we support the ALS Association
According to Eaglewood’s founding partner, Pete F. Mulheran, “I never thought that I would become intimately aware of such a terrible disease. The Ice Bucket Challenge was something people were doing to raise funds for something called ALS. It wasn’t until my brother Dan was diagnosed with ALS in late 2018 that I truly understood the magnitude of this horrific disease and how it affects so many families.
ALS is a death sentence with one to five years of intense suffering, both physically and mentally. My brother, Dan Mulheran, faced these challenges with an incredible attitude of positive energy and bravery always more concerned about his caregivers than himself. ALS took his life one year after diagnosis.