Chris Pendergast, a Long Island teacher who defied the odds by surviving 27 years with Lou Gehrig’s disease, leading marathon rides for life for hundreds of miles from his motorized wheelchair to publicize the plight of fellow patients and raise $10 million for research, died on Oct.
How long did chris Pendergast have ALS?
28 years He fought ALS bravely for 28 years and dedicated 23 of those years raising awareness and funds for ALS. He touched so many lives but at the end of the day, he was just ‘our dad’ who happened to do remarkable things.
What famous person died from ALS?
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, whose ALS was diagnosed in 1963, had the disease for 55 years, the longest recorded time one had the disease. He died at the age of 76 in 2018.
Why did Stephen Hawking get ALS?
Stephen Hawking told the British Medical Journal that this motor neuron disease has many potential causes, and that his ailment might be due to an inability to absorb vitamins [1]. After numerous tests, the doctors told him that his was an atypical case.
Is ALS 100% fatal?
ALS is fatal. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. (The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, for example, lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed.) There is no known cure to stop or reverse ALS.
Has anyone recovered from ALS?
ALS is a debilitating, devastating disease from which no one has ever fully recovered.
