Help Kathy In Her Battle With ALS

Howdy! My name is James and I am fundraising for my mom Kathy Biggs. Kathy was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in July of 2023 after a rapid progression of symptoms. The disease has continued to progress rapidly and despite her positive and courageous attitude, has slowly robbed her of all movement and independence. She is now facing increasing difficulty speaking, eating, swallowing, and breathing.

She just turned 60 years old and leading up to her birthday, had accomplished a goal of losing 60 pounds by age 60. She went from walking 5 miles a day, one of the most physically fit and active periods of her life, to struggling with arm and leg weakness that rapidly progressed and worsened.

Kathy and her husband both have had to leave their jobs and early withdrawal retirement accounts. We have found assistance with the charitable group Team Gleason, who is in the process of providing us with an iPad operated with eye tracking software, and we are so excited for the quality of life improvement that will bring. However, this is an unrelenting disease and there’s always more, more, more.

Mom worked for IU Health, but also worked for Purdue Universities Women’s Volleyball and Women’s Basketball Teams for over two decades.

While general financial assistance to help modify her home to be a more accommodating home for her disabilities, as well as help with other general medical expenses, my primary goal is to help her get to as many Volleyball and Basketball sporting events as she can this Fall and Winter season. Vehicle transportation has become impossible in a normal vehicle, and though I have reached out to many groups so far, we have not had any luck in obtaining a loaner Van quite yet. I will continue trying for her.

A fun side goal of this fundraiser: she’s made jokes about buying the biggest TV possible to watch Purdue sports from home. I want to make that a reality and use some of the funds to get her the biggest TV we can find, as well as subscription/streaming services to as many of these televised events as we possibly can.

I don’t know what else to add here right now. This is a dark and devastating disease that hits hard and slowly takes everything from a person, one by one. I am thankful she still has the smile you can see in the picture above.

Thank you for checking out her story. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. Go Boilers!!! (A tough thing to type for a lifelong IU fan.)