As some of you already know, our father, Kevin Smith, was recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This diagnosis came as a complete and utter shock to our family. We are now turning to GoFundMe to help support him through this battle. This GoFundMe is being managed by his three sons; Justin, Devin & Camrin Smith.

ALS is a terminal disease that attacks and weakens your nervous system. It affects basic tasks like walking, speaking, eating, swallowing and eventually breathing. While most ALS patients see a slower decline over several years, our dad's symptoms have rapidly progressed at a breathtaking rate. The disease has now taken complete control of his life. As a result, he cannot walk and will require a wheelchair, a hospital bed and an at-home nurse. He will be relying on his friends and family to feed him, respond to texts, and perform other daily tasks.

ALS is a very rare disease that affects around 5,000 people per year in the United States. There is no cure or treatment. In fact, we don’t even know what causes it. Because of these unknowns and the scope of its impacts, ALS is an extremely expensive disease to treat. Estimates range as high as $100,00-$200,000 per year.

Because there is no treatment for ALS, the only thing we can do is take steps to improve his quality of life. Your donation will help us do precisely that.

Currently, he is staying at the hospital while recovering from surgery. We would love to be able to make him safe and comfortable at home, but there are tens of thousands of dollars in costs associated with that. Insurance covers bits and pieces of these costs, but much of the financial burden falls on him and those around him.

We plan to primarily use your donations to hire caretakers to help improve his day-to-day life. Based on the quotes we have received, this will cost around $28/per hour. We also would like to purchase any necessary medical equipment to ease his pain and suffering. The money will also go towards things that can further improve his quality of life, including tools to help him speak and communicate, a comfortable hospital bed, a motorized wheelchair, physical therapy and more.

Kevin is a loving father who has sacrificed so much to give us everything we’ve ever needed or wanted. Now, it’s our turn to give back to him and do the exact same for him. The general timeline after an ALS diagnosis is 2-5 years, but every case is different, and we have no idea what the timeline will be for our dad. Regardless of how long he has left, we are doing everything in our power to make him as happy and comfortable as possible with what remaining time he does have left.

Each and every donation is truly appreciated and will help us fight for our dad's comfort and happiness. Your donations will also alleviate the financial stress on our father and family. If you are unable to donate, simply sharing this GoFundMe can go a long way toward helping us raise the money we need.

With love and endless appreciation,

Justin, Devin, Camrin, and Tracey