Don't Let ALS Hold Matt Down

When I was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) at age 30, in September 2001, I lived and worked in California. I had symptoms for much of that year, but I first thought it might be carpal tunnel syndrome, because I had some pain and weakness in my hands. But about six months after the diagnosis my loving mother, Barbara, selflessly offered to help me fight the illness, and I moved to St. Augustine, Florida where we still reside today.

The life expectancy of an ALS patient averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis, but it's been 14 years since I was diagnosed, proof that this disease can't get me down! We're creating a miracle this holiday season and taking my story on the road, and we need your support.  Our current handicapped van is 17-years-old, so we're hoping you'll help us meet our goal to help pay off medical debt, pay for future treatments, get a new van and travel across the country!  I can't fly on a plane or ride on a bus or take a normal vehicle, so the only way I can travel is in a van, and I have a dream to take my wife and my story on the road trip of our lives.  I can't control my movements and I talk through a computer, but I'd love to tell you more of my story and share my journey with you, so we'll be filming the whole way!  Please help my mother, my wife and myself create this dream!