[BobbyB]

Grayslake woman's determination not slowed by fight against ALS
By Bob Susnjara | Daily Herald StaffContact writer



Aimee Chamernik continues her fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here, she and her husband, Jim, are at home in Grayslake in 2007.

Aimee Chamernik will take her fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to the streets today.

Chamernik, 39, of Grayslake, intends to grip a weighted wheelchair and complete a two-mile walk starting at Montrose Harbor in Chicago. Donations will benefit the Skokie-based Les Turner Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Foundation Ltd.

She'll be joined by about 100 teammates when the event begins at 10 a.m.

Aimee's husband, Jim Chamernik, said she's been fighting a cold but the event means too much for her not to make it.

"If I had to drag her in a hospital bed, she'd go," Jim said.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, attacks nerve cells and weakens muscles until they don't function and become paralyzed. There is no cure.

Life expectancy typically is three to five years after an ALS diagnosis. Chamernik, a mother of three children, was told she had ALS in 2004.

Chamernik and her husband have continued their willingness to be public about her condition in an attempt to create more awareness about ALS.

Jim Chamernik said his wife still gets around the house well enough to delay installing the elevator she'll eventually need to reach the second floor. He said her form of ALS has been progressing slowly, so she's still able to speak - albeit softly - under her own power.

Family vacation plans went as scheduled in July. That's when Aimee got to see her beloved St. Louis Cardinals play the Phillies in Philadelphia and another game at Boston's Fenway Park.

They also made a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Jim Chamernik said the family received a tour of a private Gehrig collection at the Hall of Fame.

The New York Yankees first baseman died of the disease that bears his name in 1941, two years after his diagnosis.

Aimee's visit was featured in a story that appeared on the Hall of Fame's Web site.

"Gehrig-like strength returns to Hall of Fame. Illinois woman connects with Yankees hero on Cooperstown visit," read the headline.



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