On April 1, 2013 he was diagnosed with ALS; a progressive disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
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Soon after, Keene lost his ability to walk-ultimately putting him in a wheelchair.
Keene says he’ll eventually lose his voice and the symptoms are already starting to kick in.
For the 700 Hoosiers suffering from ALS, the videos and stories were oftentimes personal.
It got to the point where she couldn’t sleep in her bed without having painful muscle spasms, so she applied for a grant and thanks to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, she now has somewhere to sleep comfortably. “This Ice Bucket Challenge has brought attention to it, that down the road might save some lives”, says Davenport.
“I was the first Wave sent to an air station and so I was exposed to the jet fuel and everything the whole time I was there”.
Machinist Sam Beekman (right) put Local 63 President John Kleiboeker up to the ice bucket challenge. According to the ALS Association, military veterans are twice as likely to develop the disease.
This year, the association is urging people to take the challenge again.
ALS groups like the Les Turner ALS Foundation now claim the challenge as their own, and plan to do it as a fundraiser every August.
“Last summer, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge brought new hope and a unified sense of fight to ALS patients all over the world”.
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“It’s a devastating disease, so it’d be nice if there was more effort in trying to find a cure”, Keene said. There, retired member Sam Beekman, who was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago, challenged Local 63 President John Kleiboeker to have a bucket of ice and water dumped over his head by Secretary-Treasurer John Hall.
