RESULTS FROM THE MACKNEY WARRIORS!

Rich Mackney

Good Morning, Everyone! It's Monday and so thanks to Rich's wife and my friend, Ilana, I have some cool photos to bring you from yesterday's Walk to Defeat ALS. First, this is my friend Rich Mackney. Rich was diagnosed with ALS last December and both his smile and the message on his T-Shirt accurately depicts his personality. Rich is a forward-looking guy who cares deeply about others. He is involved with a cutting edge stem-cell implant procedure that actually replicates the number of his own stem cells. His last treatment was in July. The objective of course, is for the cells to begin making new motor neuron connections. When I say cutting edge, I mean it! Rich is one of 10 people in the United States to receive this new procedure. Determined? You better believe he is!

Now THIS is what I call a team! We are The Mackney Warriors. John Statt was our lead wheelchair pusher. Then Big Tom at the right, took over as we started crossing Tempe Town Lake. I'm the guy holding Rich's water bottles who walked (okay I even ran) along side Rich to help keep him hydrated as part of the Crew! We had a lot of cute girls along. The three to the left are Chiropractors. Watch out!

This was a Kodak Moment (even though Kodak doesn't make 35 mm film anymore). We were ready to roll! Rich chose the 3 mile route over the 1 mile. That's because he is tough!

Yup, this was the Starting Line.

ILana stood on top of a rock and took this photo. We estimated 3,000 people. Very awesome. When they found out about Rich, I feared they might stop over his house for Gatorade, but we managed to dodge the paparazzi!

We couldn't have imagined better weather. It was 74 degrees and you can see Rich here at the center of the photo. I believe only the nicest people in Arizona showed up for this event!

As I said, John was our first pusher (sounds like Bobsledding doesn't it?). Then Big Tom took over and started "clearing the sidewalk". We started to blast by everyone using the left lane. Then, Stacey took over and started running. This was a new challenge since my right leg was rehabbed. But surprisingly I stayed up with her for the half-mile and then took over when we were on the North side of the lake. It was unbelievable how many people were still on the South side. I pushed us along to a 45 degree turn, then it was up hill for about 200 hundred feet. I relinquished control back to Big Tom and his wife (whose name I forgot, but she was super cool). Then the Chiropractic Trio of girls brought up the rear ...wait a minute, that didn't sound right...oh, well you know how I meant it. As we re-entered the park, Rich asked us to stop and wait for the rest of our Team so we could cross the Finish Line together. That's because Rich has Class. We were so fortunate to be on his team. Hey, when I signed up we had 9 people. By the day of the walk we had 22---more than double the number. How about those metrics?

SUCCESS!
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I've been fielding a number of e-mails from people who wanted to help but were out of state and out of town. So, permit me to provide some helpful information. Stem Cell implant is a tremendously expensive procedure. It is not covered by any insurance policy. To help Rich access this regenerative medical procedure, a special bank fund has been established at any Bank of America. If you wish to help with a donation of any denomination, I can promise you this. The future is regenerative medicine. The implications for aggressively responding to ALS is outstanding. There is no effective treatment or cure yet, but Rich is on the cutting edge and continues to keep up with a highly disciplined protocol at home while doing his own research. Here is where you can help.

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Donations can be mailed to: "Rich Mackney ALS Warrior Fund" at any Bank of America, to: Business Account No. 4570 0733 4458.

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P.S. Rich has a BLOG site on my Blogroll called "The Mackney Warriors". It is filled with cool stuff, like photos and the latest articles on new treatments in the research stage. Check it out!