One of the most important people to me, my grandma, Linda Murphy, was diagnosed with ALS in April of 2024. After a year long battle with ALS she passed in late April of 2025. I've never felt so devastated, my grandma meant the world to me.  Our entire family can admit we didn't know much about the disease before this diagnosis.  I had participated in the ice bucket challenge 10 years ago, but we still didn't truly understand the devastation this ​illness wreaks or how very little is known about what causes the disease or how to treat it, let alone cure it.  Grandma gradually lost her ability to walk, talk and eat.  Extreme exhaustion with very little exertion was an every day battle.  Common tasks, as simple as eating with utensils, that we used to take for granted are now looked at in an entirely different light as she had to alter her habits and we rely on assistive equipment and medical devices daily.  As you can imagine it had been a big curve ball in life and one that comes with a lot to learn in a very short period of time.  

This organization, ALS United, has been so supportive to grandma and our family.  They have aligned us with an amazing social worker, Kellie, who has provided emotional support, answered questions, provided advice and been available to us 24/7.  There are various support groups available on a monthly basis with different focus areas for both patients and their caregivers that we have already found helpful.  They maintain a "lending closet" of equipment, devices, you-name-it items that patients with ALS might need that can be borrowed at no cost which is AWESOME!  And they are supporting the research to treat ALS and to understand what causes it so that, God willing, there will someday be a cure.

If you are here and reading our story, we would greatly appreciate your thoughts and your prayers for grandma and our family.  And please consider helping us to give to this organization so that maybe someday no one has to hear that they or their loved one has this horrible disease.