ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fatal disease where motor neurons slowly die and thereby slowly reduce a person’s ability to move. The drug, Riluzole, slows the progress of the disease and there are various devices and therapies that can be used to manage the symptoms however there is no cure for this disease.
On August 31, 2011, one of my partner’s co-workers passed away from ALS. I never met him but he was the source of one of my favorite character’s names: Nishant. I felt sadness at his passing. He never knew that I “borrowed” his name and that he unintentionally became part of my stories. I developed the character by myself but I do know, from my partner’s description, that both shared a vibrancy and love for life.
The real life Nishant was married and had a beautiful six-year old daughter. He had a promising career with a software development company, and was loved by his family and many of his co-workers. Part of me is angry that he was taken away too soon. There is no history of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 95% of the cases diagnosed. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why it strikes. My mind screams, “Not fair!”
Life is frequently unfair. No matter how much we want the bad to not happen it is irrevocably intermingled with the good and it wouldn’t be life otherwise.
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