My name is Michael Webber and I'm 43 years old. My ALS, thus far, has affected my legs and lower back.

When my wife was asked by the ALS Society if I would be the ambassador for this year's event she laughed and said "yea - no. That isn't something Mike would ever be interested in." When she came to me and jokingly asked if I wanted to do this I think I almost gave her a heart attack when I said "sure, why not?".

They say this disease is rare and yet I am the 8th male in 3 generations of my family to receive this diagnosis. My symptoms first presented as hamstring and hip pain. We thought it was because I was working a very physical job on a drilling rig. One August night in 2021, while we were out with friends, my limp suddenly got worse to the point where I was nearly falling over. It was the first inkling that something might actually be wrong.

I made an appointment with my wife’s massage therapist who specializes in nerve pain the next day and he immediately identified the issue as neurological and (to his credit) refused to treat me until I had seen my family doctor. Thankfully my doctor was able to see me the next day and referred me to the ALS Clinic in Calgary and we had the foundation for a diagnosis by October 2021.

While this has been the hardest and most devastating thing we have ever had to face, we are very grateful for the support of our family, our friends, and the ALS Society. The funding that the ALS society receives helps provide walkers, wheelchairs, stair lifts, and more to make life just a little more bearable for ALS patients. But most importantly those funds go towards research that will someday hopefully find a cure for this awful disease, most likely not for me, but hopefully for my son, my nephew and all the other men and women who'll have to go through this in the future.