OUR STORY

Our mom/grandma, Linda Murphy, was diagnosed with ALS in April 2024 and passed away in April 2025.  I think our entire family can admit we didn't know much about the disease before this diagnosis but we can vouch for the devastation this ​illness wreaks on both the patient as well as their family.  Mom lost her ability to walk and move her arms and legs and became fully wheelchair bound.  We used a lift to transfer her from chair to bathroom to bed.  Mom lost her ability to talk and required a device that she could control with her eyes to speak for her.  She lost her ability to eat and required a feeding tube for most of her nutrition by the end and all of her fluids and medications.  She lost most of her ability to breath on her own and required an external ventilator anytime she slept and almost full time by the end.  We faced constant obstacles to keep her comfortable and to manage daily activities that required incredible amounts of creativity.  And as soon as we figured out the new normal, ALS would change things on us again.

I don't know how we would have managed without ALS United.  In addition to the research into treatments and a cure, as a direct benefit to mom and our family, ALS United provided a social worker who helped us the entire duration of her illness with care, support and many, many loaned or donated devices to keep her comfortable or to solve the myriad of problems that this disease presents.  

If you are here and reading our story, we greatly appreciate that you are 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.