Derrick Vs ALS

My father retired from a 30 year career as a Lineman with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro in October 2017, about to begin a new chapter of his life. In May 2018 he started noticing weakness in his right hand. That’s where it started. Exactly one year later, in May 2019, we were given a confirmed diagnosis of ALS. Outside of his career, he was very committed to his role as a Canadian Ranger as well as a volunteer at the fire department in his community. My dad was a very enthusiastic outdoorsman who very much enjoyed hunting and fishing. His goofy sense of humour and kind heart always manages to put a smile on anyone’s face. His family is the most important thing to him, and his grandchildren are his entire life. My dad has worked hard his whole life and have always been there to help someone in need. Right now, he needs the same. We are in the process of arranging treatment for my father at Biocare Hospital and Wellness Centre located in Tijuana, Mexico. It is a two week stay which involves healing as well as stem cell transplantation. The hope is to slow the progression of the disease, potentially reverse function that has been lost, and improve his overall health. Currently, these treatment options are not available to him in Canada. At this point, he has lost all function in both hands and arms, making it impossible to perform any tasks for himself, and walking is becoming progressively worse every day. The overall cost of him receiving this treatment is approximately $25,000. Although there is no cure right now for ALS, the results of stem cell transplantation are promising and with much hope, we will stop progression and pray every day a cure is on the way for this awful disease. Without treatment, the life expectancy of a person with ALS is 3 to 5 years. If this treatment could give my father back even a small percentage of what he has lost due to this disease, believe me when I say, it will be giving him his whole life back. To be able to stand from a sitting position without assistance, feed himself, and more importantly to him, be able to hold his most recent 7 month old grandchild for the first time by himself, would give him all the hope he needs to continue fighting this battle. On behalf of my family, any help for this will mean more to us than words could ever express. There is a fundraiser being held in our community of Cow Head on September 21st. Any donations from this fundraiser will be directly added to the page to support our goal. Thank you to anyone and everyone, your kindness does not go unnoticed.