Welcome to the Ron Perryman Trust. A.L.S. (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig's disease is a brutal, unrelenting disease of the neurological system. This fund was established after Ron Perryman was stricken with A.L.S. The loss of a loved one is always difficult. However, imagine losing a parent as a child. Imagine ballgames, proms, scout meetings, and even the simple, daily activities of eating dinner and bedtime stories; all without that parent. This is the age where a parent is so important for love, growth and harmony. Imagine the void, the emptiness.
Financially, the devastation is compounded. The death of a spouse leaves the surviving parent with an enormous burden. Check with any financial advisor and they will confirm—world costs increase annually: the price of gas, mortgages and college tuition are astronomical. A.L.S. has mobilized doctors and scientists from various hospitals and colleges worldwide to search for its cure. Our goal is to raise awareness via our golf tournament. Our biggest enemy here is time, as this is a luxury most of A.L.S. victim's do not have.
The average life span of a person with Lou Gehrig's disease is 1 to 3 years, with a very small number of people living 5 years or better. During this period each victim is forced to watch their body and mind alter as a result of their motor-neurons being destroyed and the rampant muscle loss that follows. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that usually attacks both upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord. A common first symptom is a painless weakness in a hand, foot, arm or leg, which occurs in more than half of all cases. Other early symptoms include speech swallowing or walking difficulty.
Ron’s Life: They say life can change with the blink of an eye—I am living proof that it can and in fact does change that rapidly. Here I was, in the prime of life. I was an exercise fanatic—an aerobics instructor and personal trainer. I earned my college education at Boston College via a football scholarship. I ate appropriately (chicken, fish, vegetables—no red meat). I married my wife Amy and had two amazing little girls. Together we had an extraordinary life in our wonderful home in Rhode Island. Until the other shoe dropped the day I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease at Mass General Hospital in Boston Mass, now our everyday is worse than any nightmare I could recollect. Familial ALS represents between five to 10 percent of all cases. The rest arise spontaneously and mysteriously, making seemingly random attacks on previously healthy adults. ALS can strike anyone, anytime. If it could happen to me, it could happen to you.
