I'm Racing to Cure Neurodegenerative Diseases

Thanks for stopping by! I am competing in a half Ironman in upstate NY on July 9, and I am thrilled to take advantage of this opportunity to raise money for PLS through the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation. 

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is similar to ALS but slower progressing. It is a type of motor neuron disease that causes the brain nerves that control movement to fail over time. The disease causes weakness in voluntary muscles, such as those used to control your legs, arms and tongue. Like many neurodegenerative diseases, the causes of PLS are hazy and no disease-modifying interventions yet exist.

My grandmother has been suffering from this progressive disease for at least 20 years now. To protect her privacy, I won’t go into too much detail. Today, while nearly all her daily tasks require assistance, I see that she takes great pride in the ones she can still take ownership of. My family and I are lucky we can still have conversations with her, even if they are sporadic and brief. 

It has long been my dream to compete in an Ironman, and I am grateful for the opportunity to use this platform to support the science that will help people like my grandmother. I have spent the past year and a half working in human subjects research, contributing to our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. Through this, I have seen the direct impact that increased funding can have on advancing scientific research, and the corresponding advances in patient outcomes. PLS is rare, but I believe curing this disease will go hand in hand with understanding an array of similarly terrible neurodegenerative diseases. I feel that the SPF foundation is singularly committed to this goal, and will maximize the impact of our donations. 

My goal is to raise and donate $10,000 by July 1, 2023. All the money you donate, minus GoFundMe’s processing fees, goes directly to SPF. The potential impact here is real, and it is personal. Please help me make a difference. 

More information about Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, Inc.: SPF is committed to providing information about Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) and Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) creating opportunities for mutual support and sharing, and discovering the cures for HSP and PLS by funding research. Our primary goal has been to raise money to find a cure. Since our creation in 2002, we have raised and funded almost $7 million in research grants.