curveballhadley

My name is Collin Hadley and I was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis;  aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in October, 2014.  I can tell you the day that my wife and I heard those three letters  tagged as the reason for my increasing muscle weakness, fatigue, and cramping was the worst day of my life….that is until the day I told  my 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter that I had ALS.  Sitting your children down and telling them you have a disease for which there is no cure is absolutely devastating, and something no family should ever have to experience.

I gave myself one day to grieve over my diagnosis, then woke up the next day and told myself that I am moving forward to live life to the fullest.  I may have ALS, but it doesn’t have me.  I plan to create as many memories and rewarding experiences as possible with my family and friends while I still can.

I realize there are many experiences that I once looked forward to in life that will likely never occur, such as seeing my kids graduate from college, walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding, be a grandparent that spoils my grandkids rotten, and traveling the world with my wife after retirement.

One thing I can do and am very passionate about is advocate for funding and research of ALS, so in the future individuals diagnosed with ALS will have treatments that can still make their lifelong dreams a reality.  I have met wonderful individuals from the ALS TDI (ALS Therapy Development Institute) who have fully dedicated their careers to finding treatments and eventually a cure for ALS.  These amazing people will tell you that ALS is not an incurable disease, just an underfunded one.  I have given to many charitable organizations over the years, but have never asked anyone to give to a cause that I believe so strongly in.  That changes today…. I ask my friends, family members and others to please consider contributing to this wonderful organization.  Every penny that is donated to the ALS TDI goes towards ALS research.  That’s right….100% will be spent on finding treatments and hopefully a cure for this debilitating disease.

My wife recently dubbed me ‘curveball hadley’, as she knows how much it drives me crazy when baseball hitters strike out without even swinging at a pitch.  Though I have been thrown the biggest curveball of my life with ALS, I’m still swinging for the fences at every opportunity.

Now it is your turn.  I’m serving up a pitch to you and asking you to kindly consider donating to ALS TDI.  Help them hit ALS out of the park!  Any amount gets them closer to achieving that goal.

My sincere thanks,

Collin

More information about my amazing family and ALS can be found at: curveballhadley.wordpress.com

Don't count the days, make the days count!

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