Chamernik selected for national campaign

April 21, 2007
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT
Aimee Chamernik of Grayslake has been selected by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to be part of a national campaign to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease).

Chamernik, 37, will be one of 31 people (one each day) featured in "ALS: Anyone's Life Story" during the month of May, which is national ALS Awareness Month.

» Click to enlarge image

Aimee Chamernik of Grayslake reads to daughter Emily, 7, while son Nicholas plays chess in Grayslake Monday.
(Andre J. Jackson/News-Sun)
Chamernik's photo and a short profile will be featured Tuesday, May 1, on MDA's ALS Division Web site ( www.als-mda.org ) and the Association's main site ( www.mda.org ). The features will be part of the Association's nationwide efforts to inform the public about its world-leading battle against the fatal neuromuscular disease.

The series will highlight how receiving a diagnosis of ALS has brought a new significance and perspective to each person's life.

Chamernik received a diagnosis of ALS in September 2004.

A dedicated wife and mother before learning she had ALS, Chamernik continues to involve herself as much as possible in her children's schools and activities and in the everyday demands of running a household. She says her life continues to be fulfilling despite the challenges ALS presents her with every day.

She was profiled in The Lake County News-Sun this week after she was presented with a wheelchair and handicapped van by a South Carolina family.

ALS attacks the nerve cells that control muscle cells, weakening muscles until they're nonfunctional and paralyzed. The average life expectancy is three to five years after an ALS diagnosis.

MDA is the world-leader in providing services for people affected by ALS, and in the search for a treatment or cure for the disease. The Association provides medical care for those with ALS at 37 MDA/ALS centers at major medical institutions, and at some 225 hospital- affiliated MDA clinics across the country, where those with more than 40 neuromuscular diseases are treated.

For more information about ALS, including a schedule of MDA events being held nationwide to commemorate the 16th annual ALS Awareness Month, visit www.als-mda.org/media.