Grassroots Fundraiser in Wheaton Supports Fight for Fatal Motor Neuron Disease

When Wheaton resident Jan Fritsch learned her brother Russ had the motor neuron disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), she had no idea how she could help him.

Symptoms of ALS vary, Fritsch said. For Russ, they began in his legs.

“He kept falling,” she said.

Through her research of ALS, Fritsch found the Les Turner Foundation's "," a simple, grassroots way to raise money for a foundation that supports ALS research, patient care and education.

Commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS is a fatal disease of the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. The disease paralyzes patients as their neurons fail, according to the Northwestern University Division of Neuromuscular Medicine website.

Typically, ALS patients develop symptoms of the disease around age 50, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine website. They're usually given two to five years to live, Fritsch said.

As motor neurons fail, “[ALS patients] lose voluntary movement and muscular function—and speech is hard,” Fritsch said.

When Russ lost his ability to speak, he used his toes to write his thoughts with a machine doctors provided.

“It was really hard, because I saw my brother for the last time ten days before he passed away… It was the hardest thing to leave him, because I had to get home… I didn’t want to leave because I didn’t want to say ‘Goodbye,’” she said.

Finally, through the machine, Russ simply told Jan, 'go.'

"I stood there crying," she said.

Russ died 18 months after his diagnosis at age 43, said Fritsch, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, ages one and four.

“I think about it often," Fritsch said. "I think about him often.”

Eleven years after her brother's diagnosis, Fritsch continues to honor ALS Awareness Month each year as the leader of a seven-person volunteer team that raises money during Wheaton's Tag Days. This year's event takes place Friday and Saturday.

Through Tag Days, Fritsch has encountered others who have lost loved ones to the disease.

“It’s nice because a lot of people will share their stories with you, especially when they know [you’ve] had a family member you’ve lost to the disease,” she said.

This year, Fritsch’s team includes a brother, sister and granddaughter of an ALS patient who passed away in January.

While she would love to raise thousands of dollars for Les Turner, Fritsch says she is “very happy” when she can raise around $500.

“I know it’s a hard financial market right now, so with them donating anything, it makes a difference,” she said.

Funds raised during Tag Days go directly to the foundation for research for a cure or a way to slow down the disease, Fritsch said.

The Les Turner Foundation, organized in 1977, has been a leader in research, patient care and education about ALS, and has raised nearly $45 million, according to the foundation’s website.

This weekend, look for Wheaton Tag Days volunteers at the Wheaton train station, the and the intersection of Blanchard Street and Fawell Drive.