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May is ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease Awareness Month
North Texas to honor 70th anniversary of Gehrig’s retirement July 4; Dallas Walk set for October 24

DALLAS, May 15, 2009 -- The North Texas Chapter of the ALS Association will commemorate the life of baseball immortal Lou Gehrig on his birthday, June 19, 2009, and again on July 4, the 70th anniversary of his retirement and famous speech. Additionally, May is ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease Awareness Month.

Lou Gehrig first brought national and international attention to the disease in 1939 when he abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS. Most commonly, the disease strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. 

ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually attacks both upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord.  When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people with ALS, in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

The North Texas Chapter of ALS Association, like its counterparts nationwide, helps in the fight against ALS by providing the support and equipment needed to improve the quality of life for those with ALS living with this disease and their families.   

“Every 90 minutes a person is diagnosed with ALS, and every 90 minutes another person dies of ALS,” states Cyndi Austin, Dallas Walk to Defeat ALS ™chairperson whose mother had this devastating disease. “ALS can strike anyone, at anytime, as the disease knows no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries. To date, there is no cause or cure and the life expectancy of a person with ALS averages two to five years from the time of diagnosis.

“The ALS Association was a lifeline to our family,” added Ms. Austin.  Its support and ability to provide equipment to improve the quality of my mother’s life was critical to us, and the reason I continue to support the Association. Lou Gehrig put a face with the disease. We honor him for his courage to go public, and it is through his legacy  that we bring ALS awareness to the forefront.”

Lou Gehrig died of ALS in 1941. Of all the players in baseball history, none possessed as much talent and humility as Gehrig. His accomplishments on the field made him an authentic American hero, and his tragic early death made him a legend.

Born June 19, 1903 in New York City to poor German immigrants, Gehrig was the only one of four children to survive. He was signed to a contract with the New York Yankees in 1923.

When he replaced Wally Pipp at first base in 1925, Gehrig didn't leave the playing field for over 13 years. Gehrig's consecutive game streak of 2,130 games was a record that stood until Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995. His endurance and strength earned him the nickname "Iron Horse." One sportswriter called him “a Gibraltar in cleats.”

After a brilliant baseball career in the 1920’s and 1930’s, Gehrig was diagnosed in 1938 with ALS. There was no chance he would ever play baseball again.

On July 4, 1939, Gehrig¹s uniform number was retired, the first player uniform number to be retired in baseball history. On that day he bid farewell to his many fans.

In his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, Gehrig said:
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans…So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

This Fourth of July, at all Major League Baseball games, the full text of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech will be aired. Gehrig was later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the game’s highest honor.
 
For more information on the The North Texas Chapter of the ALS Association and the Dallas Walk to Defeat ALS™ call 972-714-0088 or email hope@alsanorthtexas.org.

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The North Texas Chapter was founded in May 2000 to serve the needs of those living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and their caregivers.

The ALS Association is the only national not-for-profit health organization dedicated solely to the fight against ALS. The ALS Association covers all the bases — research, patient and community services, public education, and advocacy — in providing help and hope to those facing the disease by providing nutritional supplements, two monthly support groups, durable medical equipment and communications equipment, educational programs like a grief seminar and ask the experts, counseling and educational materials.

Our accomplishments are made possible by the generosity of others. From the smallest donation to the largest gift, donors touch the ALS community with hope for the future.

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