Utah Man Fights Deadly Disease With Every Step
Running 26.2 miles can be a challenge when you’re healthy. Bob Marshall plans to run the prestigious Boston Marathon next month.

He’s running it with a life threatening disorder. But as he tells 2 News, life is all about living for the moment.

Bob Marshall and his running group will all run in the Boston Marathon next month.

“It’s the granddaddy of all other marathons,” said Bob Marshall.

Last October Bob Marshall was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It’s destroying his nerves, and in a few months or a few years, he will die from it.

“You have to think about the things you’ll miss. The graduations, marriages, your grandchildren’s birth,” said Bob.

The Marshall family knows about living with death. In 1992, when all the five Marshall children were under 10, Debi Marshall learned she had lethal cancer of the blood.

But Debi is surviving, “I wasn’t afraid of dying, but I was afraid of my children growing up without a mother. So I fought like hell.”

Debi has had 64 treatments of an especially rough kind of chemotherapy, and a blood transfusion every three weeks. She still has cancer, but she’s still alive, too. The Marshall kids are now 16 to 25 years old.

“So I’ve been able to see something worth living for and wonderful every day,” says Debi.

Still, two deadly diseases are hard on a family.

“It’s very scary for our children,” says Debi. “To think that both parents have terminal illness. Our one son, who is a student at Berkeley, calls us team terminal.”

“You really have to try to focus on living in the present,” says Bob. “To celebrate the things you can do, and not the things that you can’t do.”

Even though he has ALS, Bob Marshall is hard to keep up with. Bob’s headed for Boston. He and his friends will run. People will cheer.

Debi is looking forward to Boston, “All my children are going to be there, and I can’t wait to see him cross the finish line.”

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