Dora Redman receives Honourary Life Member Award

MARKHAM, ON, April 26, 2012 – London, ON resident Dora Redman will receive the ALS Society of Canada’s Honourary Life Member Award, in recognition of her outstanding dedication and exceptional efforts as a volunteer, during an awards ceremony to be held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Toronto, on April 28.

Redman has been part of the ALS community since July 1984. She has actively participated in fundraising and awareness-building after her sister Margaret was diagnosed with ALS in 1984. Her resolve to help people affected by ALS grew when she lost three more family members to this devastating disease. Redman and her family’s team, “MacPhersons in Motion,” have contributed close to $100,000 in total to the cause.

“The contributions of Dora Redman are significant to say the least. Dora’s body of volunteer work for ALS spans over a quarter of century,” said John Muszak, board member, ALS Ontario. “She has been instrumental in operating the London WALK for ALS, the most successful in the province of Ontario.”

"My greatest accomplishments as a volunteer for the ALS Society have been to help raise awareness of this insidious disease, and to help raise funds for research and for ALS Ontario to quickly provide expensive equipment to people with ALS,” said Redman regarding her volunteer experience.

Honourary Life members are named in recognition of an extraordinary volunteer contribution to the Canadian ALS community.

ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rapidly progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that causes the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. As the nerve cells die, people with ALS lose control of their muscles, which makes breathing, eating and even smiling almost impossible. Eighty per cent of those diagnosed will die within two to five years.

The ALS Society of Canada, founded in 1977, is the only national voluntary health organization dedicated solely to the fight against ALS and support for those living with ALS. The Society funds research towards a cure for ALS, supports our provincial partners in the provision of quality care for those living with ALS, and provides information to build awareness about the disease.

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