Brian Wallace MS Fundraiser
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I am Brian Wallace, a Padua Franciscan High School graduate in Parma Ohio and University of Michigan football player who played offensive tackle on four consecutive Big Ten Championship teams from 1988 to 1991. Although nothing can fully prepare you for the daily battle that is multiple sclerosis (MS), playing football at Michigan prepared me for the next 26 years from being diagnosed just five years after graduating in 1997. Just like Bo and Mo taught me, I accepted the adversity and challenge MS gave me and have pushed myself like I have had Coach Gittleson working me out for the last 26 years.
Before I was diagnosed, I was completely healthy and running triathlons. One day during triathlon training, I noticed that I had begun to stumble frequently, but I thought I was just my big clumsy self. To my family's shock, instead it was MS, a debilitating and incurable disease that slowly does battle with your body.
Although I am a Wolverine through and through, I started working for the State of Ohio in 1995. After being diagnosed, the importance of steady employment and health insurance became paramount, and I decided to try to make it 32 years which meant 56 years old so that I could retire with a pension and full healthcare. Unfortunately, the disease had other plans. In 2015 my MS had become so advanced that I had to make the decision to go on disability with the State of Ohio with only 20 years service. That meant I would never qualify for a pension and my $75,000 salary was gone.
Then, in 2017 I found employment that initially worked well for my disability and supplement the salary I had lost in 2015. Unfortunately, in January of 2024, I was terminated because my MS would not allow me to climb six flights of stairs for an employer with a broken elevator. I lost $50,000 of income that I have been unable to replace, as I now am visually impaired and unemployment will soon expire. My wife Sharon has been my rock, but she has medical issues too, including a stroke that she recently suffered, which may cost her her salary and our health insurance. All proceeds of my GoFundMe will go towards medical expenses to assist in continuing to fight MS and my wife’s expenses. Go Blue! Brian Wallace 92
Before I was diagnosed, I was completely healthy and running triathlons. One day during triathlon training, I noticed that I had begun to stumble frequently, but I thought I was just my big clumsy self. To my family's shock, instead it was MS, a debilitating and incurable disease that slowly does battle with your body.
Although I am a Wolverine through and through, I started working for the State of Ohio in 1995. After being diagnosed, the importance of steady employment and health insurance became paramount, and I decided to try to make it 32 years which meant 56 years old so that I could retire with a pension and full healthcare. Unfortunately, the disease had other plans. In 2015 my MS had become so advanced that I had to make the decision to go on disability with the State of Ohio with only 20 years service. That meant I would never qualify for a pension and my $75,000 salary was gone.
Then, in 2017 I found employment that initially worked well for my disability and supplement the salary I had lost in 2015. Unfortunately, in January of 2024, I was terminated because my MS would not allow me to climb six flights of stairs for an employer with a broken elevator. I lost $50,000 of income that I have been unable to replace, as I now am visually impaired and unemployment will soon expire. My wife Sharon has been my rock, but she has medical issues too, including a stroke that she recently suffered, which may cost her her salary and our health insurance. All proceeds of my GoFundMe will go towards medical expenses to assist in continuing to fight MS and my wife’s expenses. Go Blue! Brian Wallace 92
Organizer
Brian Wallace
Organizer
Cleveland, OH