There are only about 15,000 people in this country with ALS, aka Charcot’s disease, but they’re spread evenly through the population and the disease seems to strike at random. A colleague of mine who was in my Sunday school classes from kindergarten through confirmation died of it, and the son of a newsletter editor that I once worked with was a victim.
I worked with a former Marine F-4 pilot back in the early 1990’s. He was diagnosed with ALS. He didn’t know what it was, so after researching it further he became very depressed about his prognosis and the ultimate outcome.
He told me he did not want to end up being an invalid and helpless. At one point he nearly took his own life in an attempt to spare himself and his family from the inevitable stress and suffering.
Fast forward about 18 months after his diagnosis. He was in good shape. He went back to specialist, who told him he did NOT have ALS. Turned out his original work up was erroneous and he had been given a faulty diagnosis.