For those afflicted with ALS, it’s usually a death sentence. For La Jollan Todd Witt who has it, it’s a reaffirmation of life.

At first, dealing with his ALS diagnosis was tough. But Witt found a way to reconcile it for himself, his wife, and his family. “It sucked,” he said. “But I began to figure out how to enjoy what (time) we’ve got left.”

Two years later, Todd said for he and his wife Betsy: “It’s been a great two years of living one day at a time together. I ‘am’ the luckiest guy.”

Witt first found out he had a medical issue in April 2021 taking his daughter on a college tour. “On the plane, I couldn’t get our bags into the overhead compartment,” he said. “Then my daughter, who’s 100 pounds, gets up and throws them up there no problem.”

“Todd was in the car business and he began to have trouble lifting the hoods,” noted Betsy. “To be honest, we thought it was a pinched nerve or something. But when they kept bringing him back for more and more tests – we knew something was up.”

In the 83 years since Lou Gehrig revealed he had ALS, numerous other famous people – scientist Stephen Hawking, musician Charles Mingus, NFL star Dwight Clark, actor David Niven, boxer Ezzard Charles, and singer Roberta Flack – have contracted it.

Steve Bevcar, executive director for the San Diego Chapter of the ALS Association, said the disease’s cause remains a mystery. But the association has found how best to support victims and their families.

“The ALS Association provides durable medical equipment – walkers, canes, wheelchairs, speech development utensils – at no cost to patients and their families,” Bevcar said. “Our mission is to do research and advocacy, and also to provide care services of excellence, like at UC San Diego ALS Center.”

Bevcar noted the pace of developing drugs and tools to aid ALS sufferers has been painfully slow. “The first FDA-approved drug for ALS was not until 1995, 56 years after Lou Gehrig in 1939,” he said.

But Bevcar pointed out the treatment situation has been improving. “In 2022 and 2023, two more drugs to treat ALS have been approved by the FDA,” he said adding, “It’s not a cure. But that’s a positive step. And people in the sports and entertainment industries are supporting the ALS Association, and that is making a big impact.”

Closer to home, Bevcar said ALS sufferers like Todd Witt are “inspiring with a positive attitude and outlook. That goes a long way.”

Todd talked about one of the hardest things about dealing with ALS. “If I had cancer, there would be a treatment plan,” he said. “But there is no treatment plan with ALS. They tell you, ‘You’ve got two to five years. Good luck.’”

“What we’ve been trying to do is pay it forward so somebody else in our shoes doesn’t have to struggle and worry about where they should be going,” said Betsy. “We can tell them, turn here to this place, you’re going to be in good hands.”

“We’re really appreciative of the ALS Association supporting us and helping figure out a way to stop this disease,” said Todd who asked, “Why not me? Why not now? That’s why I’m participating in a stem cell trial at the Mayo Clinic.”

Concluded Todd: “We need to send out a new message: One step at a time.”

View the Instagram page @witt_wolfpack to follow along with Todd’s ALS journey. Last year, the Witts raised more than $130,000 as a team for the San Diego ALS Association. The Greater San Diego 3-mile ALS fundraising walk is Sunday, Oct. 22 at 9 a.m. at De Anza Cove in Mission Bay.

ALS

July 4, 1939: New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig, who was diagnosed with ALS, says farewell to baseball with the ‘Luckiest Man’ speech at Yankee Stadium.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a nervous system disorder affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS causes loss of muscle control and worsens over time. The exact cause of the disease is still not known. A small number of cases are inherited. ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing, or slurred speech. Eventually, ALS affects the control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat, and breathe. There is presently no cure for this fatal disease.

The incidence of ALS is rare, two per 100,000 people and it is estimated that at least 16,000 Americans may be living with ALS at any given time. About 90 percent of ALS cases occur without a family history. The remaining 10 percent of ALS cases are inherited through a mutated gene.

ALS Association’s vision and mission: Create a world without ALS. To discover treatments and a cure for ALS, and to serve, advocate for and empower people affected by ALS to live their lives to the fullest. May is ALS Awareness Month.