Dora man comes to grips with Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS
Sunday, August 31, 2008
CHANDA TEMPLE GUSTER
News staff writer
Steven Fritz Courington was using a sledgehammer at work one day in 2004 when he felt a catch in his left shoulder.

He ignored the twinge and continued his job. But soon, small things started happening: he'd brush his teeth and his left arm would draw up as though he'd had a stroke, or he couldn't pick up a screw off the floor.

"You would mentally bend down to pick it up and you just couldn't do it," said Courington, of Dora. "Your fingers wouldn't work."

He ignored the problems, learning how to work around them while also keeping them hidden from his wife, Kim. But she later caught on and insisted he go to the doctor.

On Nov. 16, 2006, doctors diagnosed Courington with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It's a disease that affects healthy adults, killing the nerve cells that control muscles and gradually causing total paralysis of all voluntary muscles. Once someone is diagnosed with it, his or her life expectancy is two to five years.

But Courington, 38, isn't thinking about death right now. He's too busy living, enjoying time with Kim, 35, and their daughters, Sloan, 5, and Sawyer, who will turn 4 on Monday.

"You have to turn loose of everything in the world and you have to give yourself 100 percent to God ..., and understand that God is in control of everything," said Courington, who has experienced minor falls or trips as his leg muscles have started to weaken. "Once I was able to reach that point in my life, God has allowed a peace to come into my life that is unbelievable."

Because of his positive spirit and a dedication to raise money for ALS research through telethons and walk-a-thons, he was recently selected as the Alabama winner for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Robert Ross Personal Achievement Award, a national program that recognizes people with MDA disabilities and their community service.

A national winner will be announced during the 43rd Annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.

Courington will appear on the telethon, which will air Monday on NBC-TV 13 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. He is slated to appear around 1 p.m. and will talk about his experience. Donations made locally benefit MDA research, services and educational programs in the Birmingham area.

Courington said he hopes his appearance on the telethon makes more people aware of ALS and the need for research. He said $85 goes to one minute of research.

"The only way diseases like this get dealt with is through research and through the generosity of the people donating for research," he said. "It is for a wonderful cause."

Still stays busy:



Courington was the breadwinner for his family before his 2006 diagnosis, working 60 to 80 hours a week as a tool and die maker at Ogihara America Corp. in Tarrant. But the disease started to affect his ability to work and he stopped July 27, 2007, becoming a stay-at-home dad.

At that time, he still had the use of his hands.

But within a year, the disease slowly robbed him of the ability to run in the yard with his children, give them piggyback rides, or even cut their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

His will to be a dad and husband is still there, though. "Hey Fritz. What's your favorite color?" Kim Courington asked as they sat at the kitchen table with their dog, Barron.

"My favorite color?" he said. "Pink. I have no choice."

He colors with his daughters almost every day, snacks on popcorn while watching the cable channel Noggin with them, picks tomatoes in their back yard with the family, and teaches Sawyer's Sunday school class at Bethel Baptist Church in Dora with his wife.

"He's a great daddy," said Sloan. "He plays with us a lot."

Dad needs help!':

The girls understand that daddy's muscles are getting weaker and they watch out for him. When Courington fell in June on his way to the car, Sloan called out to her grandmother, shouting, "Dad needs help! Dad needs help!"

Said Courington: "She's my caretaker. If I as much as trip, she's right there."



Every night, the girls climb into their little beds in their parents' room and the family prays together. Courington likes to read them Bible stories, and sometimes he'll sneak them a snack.

"Just because you have ALS, your life really can't change," he said. "You want everything for the children to be as normal as possible."

The disease has weakened the calf muscles in both of his legs, causing his feet to drop whenever he walks. He currently wears a leg brace for support on his left leg but will soon have to wear one on his right.

Courington knows that one day he will lose the use of his arms and legs and has already ordered a wheelchair - a blue and orange model because of his obsession with Auburn football.

His maternal grandfather died in 1942 from something similar to what Courington has; back then it was called the "creeping palsy." "He was diagnosed around the same age I was, and he only lived to be 42 or 43 years old," he said. "But we are going to beat that."

Twice a day, Courington takes a pill for ALS that is designed to prolong his life expectancy up to six months. Also, he is participating in an ALS drug trial in Nashville. He started in July and will return every three months. He remains hopeful.

"If it could prolong your life it would be fine, or if it could make your quality of life better, that's great," he said. "We will take anything we can get."

Debbie Sutton, district director for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Central Alabama, said Courington has one of the best attitudes of clients she's seen.

"Fritz is a fighter," Sutton said. "From the day he found out he had ALS, he has fought. He is a Christian and believes everything happens for a reason."

He receives Social Security disability and money from a small, long-term disability policy that helps cover living expenses. He's also on Medicare.



But the couple said the support of relatives, church members and friends is what has truly made a difference for them.

Courington's mother, Juanita Courington, and his wife's mother, Rita Rogers, act like a tag team during the week, visiting at different times to help as Kim Courington starts her third semester of nursing school at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.

People have offered free childcare and to clean their home for free once a month.

"For some reason, when your house is in order, everything else seems to follow," said Kim.

When their refrigerator went out last Thanksgiving, Kim's mother's boss gave them a refrigerator he wasn't using. Also, a family friend has offered to send them to Disney World so Courington can create memories with his daughters.

They haven't picked a date yet because of schedules, but Courington knows they'll make it.

"There's no expiration date on me because God is in control of that," he said. "Whenever God wants you to come home you come home."

E-mail: cguster@bhamnews.com ALSXX -- ALS:

Courington to appear on telethon

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