June 21st 2025, we will be participating in the 5Km ALS Canada Walk to End ALS.  The ALS community needs our support to accelerate research to diagnose ALS and get drug therapy treatments quicker to those with ALS.  This will be my fourth walk, which is going to be much more difficult than the previous walks and most likely I will have to finish it with a wheelchair. That is my new reality. My challenge this year is to get more people involved and raise more awareness through my professional connections on LinkedIn and traditional social media platforms.  June 2 is Lou Gehrig’s day where MLB comes together to raise awareness, if you’re not sure what ALS is, please follow this link,

https://als.ca/what-is-als/als-overview/

My story:  in 2017 I started to experience muscle twitching in my shoulder muscles, it was very minor. It was still riding motocross, coaching hockey, working out, all normal. As I progressed through 2018 the twitching became more intense and spread through my upper body, I would also experience muscle cramps. I was referred to a neurologist in September 2019 who put me through 20 or more tests. Nothing definitive at that time, he labelled it benign fasciculation syndrome. I would see him every six months where he would repeat tests. 2020 the twitching and muscle cramps continued to get worse. In February 2021 during a follow-up visit he said, unless something changes, we can stop the follow-up visits. Later that spring, the changes started, intense muscle twitching, significant cramps and weakness and severe fatigue. A few more tests later in August 2021 I was diagnosed with ALS. 

Today: I have surpassed the typical three-year life expectancy, however each passing month gets harder and harder. I've lost all my upper body strength, I am 100% reliant on others to help me with the most basic tasks, such as eating, getting dressed and now getting up from a chair and multiple basic tasks we all take for granted. I can still walk, however my core is weakening my legs as well. From last summer to now I have fallen a dozen times, 2 concussions and lots of scrapes and bruises. This disease is a living grieving process, as you lose function, you grieve that function. This disease is difficult on me physically, mentally and the impact it has on my family, as they watch me deteriorate. I’ve had a discussion with my family about MAiD, that was a wonderful discussion.  I am very grateful for all the love and support they have provided, as well our friends

A friend of mine in the Netherlands told me a story recently regarding the promotion and awareness of ALS in a small country. The Netherlands has roughly 17 million people, Canada we have about 40 million people, what I found interesting was in 2023 the Netherlands raised €17 million (28M CAD) in Canada raised C$8.5 – 10 million.  

My ask: I have over 500 LinkedIn connections which may see my post, I would ask if you could donate that would be great, I would also ask you forward it to your connections, and ask them to forward it to their connections, our own little LinkedIn ice bucket challenge.

My goal is very simple, a quicker diagnosis and accelerate the research and drug therapies to and this horrible disease.

As I've done for the last 3 years I will be walking virtually, in Georgia Bluffs Ontario with my family and friends. As I spent a significant part of my life in the Halton region, all the money raised will add to the total for Halton.

https://alscanadawalktoendals.als.ca/ontario2025/doug-reid-walk-to-end-als

thanks Doug