Close to 100 people joined the Walk Together for ALS event in Lethbridge, September 10, 2022.

By Cathy Gibson

Walk Together for ALS event provides hope for those living with the disease

Sep 12, 2022 | 12:41 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Close to 100 people came out to raise money and show their support for people living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) at Henderson Lake Park in Lethbridge on Saturday, September 10, 2022.

ALS, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rapid progression neurodegenerative disorder that attacks the nerves that send messages from the brain to the muscles of the body. It doesn’t usually affect a person’s intellectual brain function, but it reduces muscle function, which gradually leaves ALS patients immobilized, with an eventual inability to speak, swallow, or breathe. ALS currently has no cure.

Living with ALS is a personal journey faced by 43-year-old Michael Webber, who was diagnosed with the disease last October. At that time, he was an energetic oil rig worker. Less than a year later, he needs a wheelchair.

Michael says the disease is already taking its toll, “It’s the mobility issues right now. Obviously, I had to leave my job, too. I was working on a drilling rig, which is not really conducive when you’re in a wheelchair. So, yeah, like, last September, I was still at work, climbing ladders and doing all that hard work, and now I can’t barely get up the stairs.”

Micheal’s symptoms started with what he thought was a minor injury, but when it gradually got worse, he knew what he was facing before the doctors confirmed it.

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“When it started out, it was just a hamstring, I thought I pulled a hamstring. But then as it was getting worse, and I started seeing other doctors, I knew before the diagnosis came back, like I was sure, I was positive. It’s pretty obvious. It wasn’t a big shock,” he says.

Michael wasn’t surprised because ALS runs in his family. It is classified as a rare disorder, but eight men in Michael’s family have been diagnosed with the disease within three generations.

“For us, it was my dad’s three cousins, both his uncles, both his brothers, and now me makes eight,” he says. “Every single male on my dad’s mother’s side of the family over three generations has only died of ALS. There’s never been a cancer, heart attack, nothing – only ALS.”

That’s a huge concern for Michael and his wife, Allie; not only for Michael’s diagnosis, but also for the future health of their son and nephew. Allie says that’s why raising funds toward research for a cure is so important.

“He’s the eighth person in his family to get ALS, so the research and the funding for that means a lot to us because our son and our nephew, they very likely could get this disease. So, trying to find the cure obviously is top of the line for us, so anything that people can do to help and come out and support is huge and we’re so grateful to everybody,” says Allie Webber.

That sentiment is shared by the chair of the Walk Together for ALS event, Shelley Thom, who lost her husband, Gerard, to ALS at the age of 53. Gerard Thom also had a cousin who died from the disorder.

“He passed away two years before him in Kamloops. So, it was a cousin along his dad’s line, so there was a connection there,” she says.

Both families have done genetic testing, which has been inconclusive.

Shelly is also concerned about her own son, Adam, so they are determined to do whatever they can to help find a cure for the disease.

“You just want to live your life to the fullest while you can. You can’t live your life always thinking,” says Shelly. “My husband died five years ago from ALS. His heart was in this disease just like everyone else, and Adam and I promised we would help forever until we found a cure.”

Shelly and Adam Thom (left) and Michael and Allie Webber (right) lead the Walk Together for ALS event at Henderson Lake Park in Lethbridge, September 10, 2022. (Photo: LNN)

The Walk Together for ALS event helps raise funds and awareness for The ALS Society of Alberta. The ALS Society provides equipment to help patients and families cope during the progression of the disease, and also helps to fund research toward finding a cure.

The weekend event in Lethbridge raised close to $30,000. Of that amount, 60% will go toward client support services, and 40% will be directed toward ALS research.

Allie says her family is dedicated to helping with this fundraising event because it makes a big difference to families dealing with ALS. “This walk, being able to raise funds for the society that’s been so helpful for us through our journey, means a lot, because without them, we wouldn’t have been able to get some of the implements that make daily life just a little more bearable, a little more easy for our family. So, anything that we can do to help others is huge for us.”

Michael agrees, “While this has been the hardest and most devastating thing we have ever had to face, we are very grateful for the support of our family, our friends, and the ALS Society. The funding that ALS Society receives helps provide walkers, wheelchairs, stair lifts, and more to make life just a little more bearable for ALS patients. But most importantly those funds go towards research that will someday hopefully find a cure for this awful disease, most likely not for me, but hopefully for my son, my nephew, and all the other men and women who’ll have to go through this in the future.”

For more information on ALS or to make a donation visit the Walk Together for ALS website.

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