Like so many young people, I had heard of ALS but had never given it much thought. I met Leah in college while both living in dorms, but later moved in to an apartment together.  I was dealing with my own recent diagnosis of Crohn's disease. Getting that diagnosis at the age of 17 seemed like the end of the world to someone getting ready to head into a life of independence. I had many challenges of hospitalization, chronic pain and far too many hours spent in the bathroom. Through all that I had my roomate and friend Leah supporting me and making funny toilet humour jokes to get me through.

We danced our way through college, and drank (water of course!) ourselves through the first few years of working random jobs. We lost touch after i decided to move all over the place, but reconnected after moving back to Toronto. I loved seeing her post pictures and videos of her doing and teaching yoga. Then i loved seeing her post pictures of her beautiful family. It was incredible to watch someone grow up from broke college student, always eating my eggs to seeing her thrive being a mother.

When I first saw her post about ALS and her diagnosis, it didnt seem real. How could someone so full of life and who loves to stay active, be diagnosed with such a terrible disease? Its one of the true mysteries and tragedies of life that i will never understand. 

And so I will walk this year, I will do what little I can to hopefully raise money to find a way to reverse and prevent this terrible disease. 

Please consider supporting our team and donating towards this important cause.

Your support will help to:

• Create a better day-to-day reality for people and families living with ALS by providing community-based support throughout Ontario – like home visits and support groups – as well as necessary medical equipment like hospital beds, wheelchairs, stairlifts and other items that increase safety in the home, at no cost to those who need them.
• Further scientific progress by investing in the ALS Canada Research Program, which funds promising ALS research. The ALS Canada Research Program is the only national dedicated source of funding for ALS research across Canada. This program provides peer-reviewed grants to researchers whose work has the greatest potential to advance the field of ALS. There’s been more progress made in ALS research in the last five years than over the last century – we need to keep building on this momentum.

Join our team in making a difference. Please consider donating to our team fundraising page as we work toward a world free of ALS.

Your support is needed now more than ever – we are stronger together!