ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is also known as Lou
Gherig’s Disease. ALS is not really a disease, but a progressive degenerative
disorder of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
Lou Gherig was known as the Iron Horse of baseball, having
played in 2,130 consecutive baseball games. When he was diagnosed in 1939,
little was known about ALS.
On July 4th, 1939, Gherig gave a speech that is
one of the most memorable sports speeches in the history of sports. Knowing
that he was going to die (he lived two more years) and knowing the horrors of
ALS, he stood at home plate in Yankee Stadium and uttered the following words:
“For the past two weeks, you have been reading about a bad
break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
For a small percentage (maybe 10%), it can be a genetic
mutation. For those, it is known as Familial ALS. But for 90% of those that get
ALS, there is no known reason. It hits men slightly more than women and onset
falls into the range of 40-70 years of age.
ALS often starts in the hands and feet, with tingling and
burning progressing to include weakness in the arms and legs. As it progresses,
it encompasses any and all muscles, including the muscles used for swallowing,
talking, and breathing. Cognitive functioning remains intact in most cases,
which means that the person is fully aware of what is happening to their body.
ALS is not considered a sports injury, but there does appear
to be a higher incidence of ALS in military veterans and athletes, particularly
football players.
There is no cure for it. It is a devastating disorder,
slowly robbing the person of all control.
No one knows why it affects one group more than others, but
there are some similarities in combat veterans and football players. It has
been speculated that repeated trauma might make a person more likely to get
ALS, but we really have no idea about that. Life expectancy is 2-5 years and
ALS progresses at different rates for different people.
In other words, we just don’t know much about it. But
research is ongoing and hopefully a cure will be found one day. It’s an ugly,
nasty disorder that slowly robs the person of their body.
Last week, I mentioned the best football player I ever
played with. A gifted athlete at whatever he did, he was especially good at
football. He was most definitely a “natural,” but he coupled that with a strong
work ethic to become the best of the best.
On offense, give him the football and watch him go. On
defense, he was one of those players that was always around the ball. We used
to say people like that “have a nose for the football.” He definitely had that.
Maryville native and football coaching legend Ollie Keller
recruited him to play at Memphis State but circumstances prevented that from
happening. I have no doubt that he would have been a college star and maybe a
career NFL player. He was really that good.
His name is J.L. Millsaps and he had ALS. He died this weekend. In his last days, he could hardly move his
once strong body. He spoke only in a whisper and was rarely able to even open
his eyes. He knew the end was near, yet, his spirit and his faith remained rock
solid. RIP JL.
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