ALS Appeal for Al Johnstone

This appeal is being put forward by friends of Alastair Johnstone, of Fredericton NB.  Those of us lucky enough to cross paths with Al over the years know him as as a devoted husband and father,  and a valued friend with endless reserves of humour, knowledge and kindness.  He is also a talented photographer, world traveller and aficionado of music, history and culture. 





In September, 2017 our good friend Al  received some devastating news.  For months, he had been experiencing progressive, unexplained weight loss and weakness.  Ultimately, a hospital admission for extensive medical testing revealed that he was living with Progressive Muscular Atrophy, a form of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). 

The bad news didn't stop there. His doctors have advised him that his condition is rapidly progressive,  without any known cure or treatment.   Based on his test results, he has been told to expect to be wheelchair-dependent within a year, and his expected life span is only two to three more years. 

It's hard to imagine  how hard the road ahead is going to be for Al, his wife Jen, and their four children Matt, Sarah, Emily and Alex.     While we are hoping and praying that  Al beats the odds and outlasts the grim prognosis he has been given, his symptoms are unfortunately continuing to progress.   

That's why we have put together this GoFundMe page to help support Al and his wonderful family.  Your generous donation will help the Johnstone family in some extremely important ways:

• Help  fund needed renovations to his home to allow wheelchair accessibility and to help him function for as long as possible

• Take some of the pressure off Jen, who is working extra hard now to support their family, saving vacation days for when she knows they'll be needed in the future.

•Help Al complete his life goal of visiting every Canadian capital city, before he's unable to travel

We are starting with a goal of 2000 dollars, but Al and his family are truly priceless and I'm hoping we can exceed that amount by a significant margin!

About this campaign

• GoFundMe account managed by Alec Macaulay (family physician in Winnipeg, MB, originally from Fredericton, longtime friend of Al)

•Donations will go directly into Alastair's bank account

•5% of donations go to GoFundMe and 2.9% + $0.30 of each donation go to WePay (which administers the collection and distribution of the donations).  Ie, 8% total to administration, and 92% directly to Al.