Benefit for Charlie Smith *Join us to help fight Als on Saturday, July 29, 2023

Charlie Smith was a resident of Shelby, Ohio, his whole life until a few years ago. He is currently living in Willard with his loving wife, Connie. He has four kids, including his bonus kids, and has nine grandchildren. Smith’s daughter Jessica is fundraising on his behalf.

He experienced slurred speech in October 2022, and at first, the doctors thought he had suffered from a stroke. However, those tests came back negative. Finally, in January 2023, he was officially diagnosed with “ALS” or “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Charlie no longer can form words and has a machine that speaks for him. He also no longer can eat on his own and has a feeding tube. It is now getting hard for him to breathe. Currently, he can still walk, however, his muscles are really bothering him, and no longer drives. He can't perform normal household tasks, as he gets tired quickly and it causes an extreme amount of pain.

The reason for the benefit is to help with the unforeseen costs that come with ALS such as co-pays, getting to and from medical appointments, medication, living expenses, funeral costs, and all the in-between. Charlie was forced into early retirement because of the effects of the disease. Connie is also retired and has become his full-time caretaker. The point is to allow him to live the rest of his days as stress-free as possible. We don’t want finances to be on their minds or to cause decisions to be made that wouldn’t be made if cost wasn’t a factor, such as skipping medication or not pursuing treatments that will prolong life.

Category: Community | Fundraisers