Students raise money to aid Hickory grad with ALS


By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE —

A hastily thrown together fundraiser will be held Saturday to raise money for Stephen Comninos, who was diagnosed last summer with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.


ALS attacks the upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord, according to the ALS Association Web site.

Comninos, a 2001 Hickory High School graduate, had to quit his job in Florida to live at home, said his mom, Linda, of Hermitage.

“He needs to be at home right now,” she said.

Stephen still can walk, talk and drive.

“He’s still able to do most things, but he has a hard time,” she said.

Comninos, who graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania last spring with a business administration degree, first noticed weakness in his hands, a common initial symptom of the disease, which can be fatal.

He probably kept his first signs of the disease from his family because his oldest sister, Nicole, died nine years ago at age 22, Mrs. Comninos said. Nicole contracted meningitis as a baby and needed to be cared for her entire life.

Mrs. Comninos said she will do anything she can to help her son, no matter the financial stress it puts on the family.

“I just pray that maybe we can get him stabilized,” she said.

While Medicare enrolled Comninos, it will not pay for the drug that a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hopsital and Health Center, Balimore, has prescribed. Increlex is meant for children with growth problems and is not approved for ALS, Mrs. Comninos said.

The drug costs about $8,000 a month.

“I’m fighting with the insurance company right now,” she said.

Hickory’s Students For Charity has organized a polar bear walk-a-thon for 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the track behind the high school, said school board member Victor J. Ellenberger.

The event will go on no matter the weather, but could be moved indoors, he said.

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