Bowling, Walks, Dueling Pianos, paint night and raffles – the Drayton Valley Team has organized it all! We wanted to highlight this team of amazing women and their tireless efforts as part of this year’s Making it Possible… and today is more than fitting, as it is the day of Drayton Valley’s Walk Together for ALS.
“Our Committee is made up of sisters Melanie and Marcie Pruden, cousin Kayla Leeder, and Nicole Tymchak, longtime family friend (aka the “third daughter”). We lost our mom, Audrey, to ALS in April 2016 after she had been diagnosed in early 2015. It was so hard to watch her battle the disease as her mind was still 100% there, but as the disease progressed she became immobilized and couldn’t speak.
Our family received so much support from the ALS Society of Alberta. Whatever we needed was delivered within a few days because the Society knew when something was needed, it was needed now. They provided 3 different wheelchairs, an electric lift chair, a porch lift, roof lift, BiPap machine, portable suction machine, transfer board, and a hospital bed. And if that wasn’t enough, they even trialed many different mattresses on the bed so our mom would be as comfortable as possible. Not to mention the emotional support we also received throughout the journey.
An ALS diagnosis can cost a family up to $250,000, so the fact that the ALS Society offers an Equipment Loan Program as part of their amazing client support services, is truly a blessing to families. We cannot say enough good things about the ALS Society and the work they do to ensure that each day is the best possible day for those living with and affected by ALS. We had so much support and there is no way we would have been able to get through it without the ALS Society. We were able to stay home with our mom to care for her which was so important to us.
Before our mom was diagnosed, we had only heard of ALS mainly through the Ice Bucket Challenge, but we soon learned that many people local to Drayton Valley had been affected by ALS as well. In the past 10 years, this disease has affected 12 individuals and their families in our area. We wanted to give back somehow!
We attended the Edmonton Walk to End ALS in 2017, walking in honour of our mom. It was then that we decided we needed to bring this Walk to Drayton Valley to help spread awareness for the disease and build a support system in our community for anyone living with and affected by ALS.
The four of us took on something that most people our age would not. But we continue to do this to honour Audrey’s legacy and to help raise funds for the ALS Society and ALS Research so that both can continue doing the amazing things they do for generations to come, and to let others in our community know that they are not alone.
We would like to thank and acknowledge our very large family who act as our event volunteers and support system – we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you!”
Thank you Nicole, Melanie, Marcie and Kayla for everything that you do! We are so happy to be able to attend today’s event in person again.