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LeDoux, fighting ALS, hospitalized for depression

[IMG]http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/502*335/1ledoux0318.jpg[/IMG]
Scott LeDoux

The wife of the state boxing commissioner and Anoka County Board member hopes he will be able to leave Mercy Hospital Wednesday.

By PAUL LEVY, Star Tribune

Last update: March 17, 2009 - 11:41 PM

Former heavyweight boxing contender Scott LeDoux, who said last year he had suicidal thoughts when diagnosed with ALS, admitted himself to Mercy Hospital last weekend after a severe bout with depression, his wife said Tuesday.

LeDoux, an Anoka County commissioner and executive director of the state commission overseeing boxing and related sports, had been taking prescribed medication for depression. He learned in August that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive, usually fatal neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

LeDoux mistakenly forgot to take an antidepressant for several days last week, and the absence of the drug seemed to affect him adversely, family members said.

Carol LeDoux said her husband told her Saturday afternoon that he needed to leave the house. Instead of trying to stop him, she called Judy and Wayne Wynn, LeDoux's sister and brother-in-law, and LeDoux's friend and attorney, Bob Dolan.

After a brief drive, LeDoux returned to his Coon Rapids home, where family members awaited. LeDoux went with Dolan to Mercy Hospital around 7 p.m. voluntarily "to get his medication adjusted," Dolan said.

The Anoka County Sheriff's Office said it received no calls for help or an ambulance concerning LeDoux. Hospital officials would not acknowledge that LeDoux was a patient. His wife said she is hopeful that he will be released today.

Carol LeDoux met on Tuesday with Anoka County Board Chairman Dennis Berg. "We're going to do everything we can to accommodate Scott," Berg said. "We will assist him so he can do his job. We'll have backup plans and fill him in on meetings, if he can't make them."

LeDoux once fought George Foreman, battled Ken Norton and Leon Spinks to draws, and went toe-to-toe with then-champion Muhammad Ali in a five-round exhibition. When he learned he had ALS, LeDoux vowed, "I'm not going to die from it. This is my real heavyweight championship fight."

LeDoux now uses a walker. He can't button his shirts, tie his shoes or even rip open a packet of sweetener. He recently learned he may have had ALS symptoms as long ago as three years yet said he remained encouraged.

"It shows that, for me, the disease is moving slowly," he said last week. "I'm a fighter. I can live with this."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419

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