Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Last night my good friend Nicole Verghese held an intimate get-together music session with herself and another band on the mics, with friends, family and colleagues surrounding her. We were all there for one purpose, to give support to her family in this trying time. Her father has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, or Motor Neurone Disease.

It sounds like a mouthful, but it actually means that your brain has stopped communicating with your muscles and nerves. Any voluntary movement on your part will become harder and harder, including simple acts like making a fist, swallowing food, and even breathing. A person diagnosed with ALS will slowly deteriorate as his muscles get smaller and weaker, and eventually pass on due to respiratory failure.

When I told my mum about this, she said that my paternal grandfather had also suffered from the same disease. He passed away after 5 years of being bed-ridden. That was almost 25 years ago, when medical technology was no where near the stage it is now. And yet even today, there is no cure for ALS, and no way to slow down the progression of the disease.

Nicole has an indiegogo page up until the end of the month to raise funds for her dad's medical bills. As December approaches, the season of giving and receiving, please feel free to contribute to this or any other ALS/ ALS research fund-raising initiative.