Council hears about ALS Month

Jasmine Wizniak and Brenda Wizniak appeared before the regular meeting of Council Monday in order to raise awareness regrading ALS. 

ALS – Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease is a fatal neuro-degenerative disease with no known cure or effective treatment, explained Jasmine Wizniak. 

ALS is the most common cause of neurological death in Canada with a mortality rate for ALS of approximately 2/100,00 per year.

“Although ALS is as common as MS, it is still relatively unheard of due to the short prognosis of two to five years from date of diagnosis and the short lifespan is the principal reason for lack of public awareness which in turn results in a lack of financial support for research to find a cause and cure for ALS,” detailed a letter circulated to Council. 

The disease hits close to home for the two women. 

“This cause is close to our hearts . . . as my husband, Jody Wizniak was diagnosed with this devastating, fatal disease this past December,” explained Brenda Wizniak. 

Since June is ALS Awareness Month “We, as a family want to create awareness in our community of this disease,” said Brenda Wizniak. 

Members of Council received a corn flower pin. 

The cornflower is a symbol of Hope and is the National flower of Hope for ALS/Motor Neuron Disease and grown in all ten Canadian Provinces and three Territories. 

“The blue cornflower is to ALS what the daffodil is to cancer,” said Brenda Wizniak. 

To help raise awareness Yoga in the Park will be held downtown on June 19, she said. 

Brenda Wizniak also pointed out Major League Baseball held the first Lou Gehrig Day this past week on June 2. Each home team had a “4-ALS” logo in the ballparks to mark Gehrig’s No. 4 and all players, managers and coaches wore Lou Gehrig Day patches on their uniforms. Lou Gehrig died at the age of 37 from the disease.