Staff at Mary Immaculate Hospital take steps to support former resident
Staff from Covenant Health’s Mary Immaculate Hospital in Mundare participated in an ALS walk on August 18, 2012 in support of Colby Coers, a 21-year-old with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).
When staff at the hospital heard that Colby’s sister Dina Coers was organizing a walk to generate awareness and raise money for ALS patients in their community, they put together a team and laced up their sneakers to support Colby like he supports those around him.
“Colby keeps his spirits up and ours too. He lights up a room for both staff and residents. He truly is an inspiration to all of us,” said Effie Lakusta, Therapy Assistant. “He encourages everyone to forget about their aches and pains by how strongly he faces his own battle with ALS.”
According to Colby, his strength comes from all of the people that support and help him.
“I hope that the money raised will help all ALS patients to improve their lives and to help find a cure so that no one else has to suffer from this devastating disease,” said Colby.
The Mary Immaculate team was called the Colby Shadow Queens, in honour of Colby and the pet cat Shadow that he made friends with at the hospital.
Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) is a progressive neuromuscular disease that kills nerve cells and paralyses voluntary muscles. Colby’s illness started with a weakness in his arm at age 18 and now the disease has progressed to the point where everyday skills such as walking and talking are difficult. Colby’s sister Dina Coers, organizer of the walk, believes that it is important to generate awareness of ALS in her community.
“Our family had no clue what ALS was until Colby was diagnosed with it, as is the case with many families in our situation. We raised about 25,500 dollars for the cause. What was even better, the community was able to get together to show our support while raising funds and bringing awareness to the community,” said Dina.
The staff at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Mundare will continue to collect donations for the ALS society in Colby’s name until the end of the year.