This weekend motorcyclist Kevin Mason prepares for the ride of his life with the hope of saving someone else's.
Gibsons' Mason will join Kelowna's Hal Spelliscy and Blane Despres in Halifax on June 4 to attempt a 5,900 km cross-country ride in under 90 hours in order to raise thousands of dollars for ALS research.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Mason, Spelliscy and Despres have already raised nearly $20,000 to help find a cure and they hope to see that number climb when more people become aware of their ride through various media interviews planned in cities along the way.
It was Spelliscy who first pitched the idea of an Iron Ride For ALS during ALS Awareness Month in June. He wanted to do something to help find a cure for the neuromuscular disease that has left his sister paralyzed and dependent on 24-hour care.
His friend Despres was moved by the cause and offered to come along and chronicle the trip. In conversation Despres told Mason about the effort.
I reminded Blane that's what my mom died of and I kind of just joined in at that point, Mason said, noting more riders were interested before they found out they would likely be biking for 18 hours a day. It's going to be pretty intense so just about everyone backed out and now it's just the three of us.
While he realizes the trip will be difficult and at times uncomfortable he's happy to push himself for such a worthy cause.
We're going to go through some physical pain but it's just a minor taste of what people who are dealing with ALS have to go through, Mason said. It's the least we can do.
Mason watched his mother succumb to the devastating disease that began innocently enough with difficulty talking and eating.
The symptoms progressively got worse and although doctors didn't know what was going on, Mason's Mom knew.
My mom researched the symptoms and their steady progression and was convinced she had ALS, Mason said. My mom was a nurse. She knew an ALS diagnosis most certainly meant death. And she was right.
Mason wants to change that outcome for others diagnosed in the future and he hopes the Iron Ride For ALS will bring in the funding needed to advance research now being done.
Different researchers are now starting to share information about what they have found and they are finding some similar areas with 'misfolding proteins' as they called it, Mason said.
There are quite a few paths they are still exploring but this one looks quite encouraging, he said.
To find out more about the Iron Ride For ALS go to www.ironrideforals.ca. Donations can be made securely on-line. Cheques can also be made out to the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation with Iron Ride For ALS in the subject line. Mail cheques to Sharla DeFrane associate director, Donor Relations and Events, VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, 855 West 12th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 1M9.
