Bev's Battle

My dear friend Bev was a school bus driver. It started with Bev stumbling several times getting on the bus. Then she noticed that she limped and was becoming weak and uncoordinated. In May 2002, Bev was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Bev found herself floundering, her life spiraling out of her control. Having had to leave her job in January of 2002, she felt adrift and afraid. She began to study this disease that was robbing her of her independence and completely changing her life. She found out that ALS affects the nerves coming from the spinal cord, which are responsible for supplying electrical stimulation to the muscles of the body. The body becomes progressively weaker, and the weakness leaves the person susceptible to other ailments. ALS occurs most often in the fifth through seventh decade of life, and Bev had just turned 60. There is no known cause for ALS, and Bev gradually went from a cane to a walker, and then to a wheelchair.

A hydraulic lift was installed to make the transfer from her bed to a chair more efficient. The community held fundraisers to buy her a van with a lift for her wheelchair. Her love of children was still strong. She had her wheelchair take her to the end of the driveway to watch the children as they did a fundraising walk for her.

Bev got a computer and kept in touch by email. Her downhill slide was fast, yet she would email how fortunate she was to have such wonderful friends and family. Our hearts ached for her, we shed tears for her, but it was Bev herself who comforted us.

She offered her photo for the ALS Society of Canada website, and she would talk to anyone newly diagnosed. She was a vibrant, youthful woman, a woman who worked very hard over her lifetime, a woman who loved being a grandmother but could not take her grandchild for a walk. She was aware there was no cure, but she prayed for a cure for herself and others like her who are stopped suddenly in the best years of their lives.

This story is written for my friend Bev. If you want to visit Bev, visit the ALS Society of Canada, and click on "Events" and "March of Faces," then "Nova Scotia." There you will see the smile of a courageous woman named Beverly McCann. Bev lost her battle in the spring of 2005, just as her tulips were blooming.

We now all spread the word about ALS, about the daily fight its victims face, and we pray that a cure will be found.

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