TEXAS FATHER, SON FIGHT ALS
AT MCAFEE COLISEUM AND SBC PARK
TUCSON, Ariz., May 24, 2005 – Kingwood, Texas, resident Stuart
Nichols and his son, Andrew, are observing ALS Awareness Month by
pursuing their goal of visiting every major league baseball park in
North America.
On Memorial Day weekend, their passion for the game will lead them
to McAfee Coliseum and SBC Park.
They will see the Giants take on the San Diego Padres, on May 29,
and the A’s against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on May 30. This
trip will leave four ballparks to go in the family’s efforts
to see all 30 teams play in their home stadiums, a goal set by Nichols
and Andrew, 22, in 1990.
Last year, Nichols received a diagnosis of amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS), the life-threatening disease named after
baseball great Lou Gehrig. At the Giants’ game, he’ll
be representing the Muscular Dystrophy Association, whose ALS
Division leads the world in providing research and services for
people with ALS.
ALS is a disease of the parts of the nervous system that control
voluntary muscle movement. As nerve cells are gradually lost, the
muscles they control become weak and then nonfunctional. Respiratory
complications typically develop, and without respiratory intervention,
life expectancy is three to five years after diagnosis.
May is the 14th annual ALS Awareness Month in the United States.
“I want to make more people aware of ALS and how deadly it is
and how much we need to work now to find a cure to start saving people's
lives,” said Nichols, who will be profiled on the national broadcast
of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor
Day weekend. “I hope to be a survivor of it, but if I'm not,
I want to be remembered as one of the people who was on the team that
beat the curse of ALS.”
A global financial accounting manager for Exxon-Mobil, Nichols receives
care at the Vicki Appel MDA/ALS Center at the Methodist Hospital in
Houston.
MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases
through programs of worldwide research,
comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health
education. The Association maintains 34 dedicated MDA/ALS
centers at major medical institutions, including Forbes Norris
MDA/ALS Research enter in San Francisco.
The Association’s programs are funded almost entirely by individual
private contributors.
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