They say you never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only option... 

ALS is incredibly personal to me... 

I had heard ALS before, but never truly knew what it was until a family I knew was affected. 

I am thankful for The Mejia family for courageously sharing their story about Ismael's battle so that people like myself could become aware of this often misdiagnosed and fatal disease. Through this we were able to support each other and go through this journey together. 

The difficult thing about ALS is that it goes undetected or misdiagnosed, for months or even years, in a lot of cases. ​

My hero, my rock, my Pop, Sigifredo Morales, was diagnosed about two years after Ismael. 

No one truly understands the emotional and physical strain ALS has on a person until they are in their shoes. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for my dad and Ismael to go from being able-bodied, hardworking men, to having to rely on people to do easy, day to day things for them.

Although new advances in medicine had recently become available, Ismael's condition was too advanced for it to take effect and he lost his battle in June of 2018 to ALS.  My Pop was able to take advantage of the medication until we ran into insurance issues. This was a constant battle for us either the medication was approved and his much-needed doctors were not or the doctors were approved and the medication was not. Shortly after losing coverage for his medication, his mobility began to decline. His illness began to progress more and more. I appealed each denial, unfortunately by the time we were able to reapply for the medication, due to the progression of the ALS and physical decline, he was no longer eligible to receive it.

As heartbreaking as it was, we put a brave face on and made sure that Pop knew his battle was our battle too. 

He may have lost his ability to walk or hold things with his hands, but he never lost his ability to hug, speak, sing or laugh. This was his biggest fear of all - he never wanted to lose the ability to tell us that he loved us.

Unfortunately, my Pop also lost his battle to ALS on the morning of October 7, 2019.

When he was diagnosed, I made a promise to him to fight this with him every step of the way. I kept my word until his last breath. Although ALS took a piece of my heart that day, I will continue to fight the battle until a cure is found.

I pray that no other family has to endure the battle... I'm walking to change the statistics. To bring help and hope to those living with the disease, to ensure that no one ever hears the words "You Have ALS again".

​Why We Need Your Help

Often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease.

These are more than statistics to me, because they affect people I love. Please support me as I Walk to Defeat ALS.