Lee Shumway of Hadley hopes the money he is raising now will help prevent others from experiencing the devastating end to life brought on by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Shumway, 60, was diagnosed two weeks before Christmas last year with the incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disease that erodes nerves in the spinal cord and brain, causing paralysis. As it progresses, muscles lose their strength.
“It’s a quiet, creeping killer. It just starts taking away your mobility,” says Shumway, who had led an active, healthy life and worked for 30 years as a driver for UPS Inc. “When it reaches the chest muscles, the person can no longer breathe. So they are forced to choose between an oxygen tube to help keep them alive, or suffocate to death.”
Shumway first felt the disease in a weakening ankle. Now, he has a hard time walking. When he arises, Shumway lifts his legs over the side of the bed and waits for 10 to 15 minutes before making his way to a couch with the help of a walker. His routine often is lifting small weights to strengthen his upper body, and working on his new passion — raising money for ALS associations that he hopes will find a cure for the disease.
He has raised $15,000 for his latest project, the Western Massachusetts Walk to Defeat ALS, May 12 at Look Memorial Park in Florence. He also wants to organize monthly “dine to donate” events at area restaurants.
This is not how Shumway envisioned retirement with his wife, Diane. There is a cottage in Maine where the two had planned to spend summers. There is a 1968 Ford Mustang that Shumway wanted to restore.
Now, their resources must go to renovating the house where they live in an apartment above their daughter’s family. It needs a stair lift and larger bathroom, and Shumway figures those improvements and a wheelchair van will cost about $125,000.
He already has received help from groups like the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter and Compassionate Care that have donated equipment, including an outdoor ramp and electric wheelchair.
By telling his story, Shumway hopes that people better understand the impact of ALS and other diseases. He says he has become a more compassionate person who appreciates friendships.
“I feel like I’m probably a better person than I was before, in that I now see the struggles of other people, whereas before I had my head buried in sand going back and forth to work.”
People may donate online to the Walk to Defeat ALS at https://bit.ly/2GSVQbJ. Shumway also has a GoFundMe page at https://bit.ly/2qt9Pur.
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Kudos to Northampton High School art teacher Lisa Leary for inspiring excellence in her students.
The students in Leary’s honors art class have received numerous national and regional awards for their work this year, and are being rewarded with acceptance at prestigious art schools. Among them is senior Kailey Weaver, who earned a $50,000 scholarship to Cooper Union in New York City.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d be going to art school,” says Weaver. “The reason I am is completely because of Ms. Leary … I always thought of art as a hobby, but being part of a program that is this difficult made me realize I could do more.”
Leary says, “I like to be both difficult and encouraging. It’s a delicate balance. I take it really seriously and try to motivate the kids to be more creative and expressive. It’s so fantastic to watch them grow.”
Judging from their success, Leary can be proud of a job well done.
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Dmitri Weise, of Belchertown, has learned at age 15 how he can help improve the lives of less fortunate people.
Weise, a student at North Star, the self-directed learning center in Sunderland, began handing out care packages in February to homeless people in downtown Northampton. They contain personal hygiene items, socks and pet food.
“At this point, I just want to make sure everyone who we come across has at least one package,” says Weise, who hopes to make a year-round project of giving the packages to people individually.
That caring attitude will serve Weise well throughout his life.