I Prefer to Laugh

Gary D. Sullivan was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in December 2004. It is estimated that the onset of his illness, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, occurred 18 months earlier in the spring of 2003. ALS has a life expectancy of two to five years from the onset of the disease. Gary recently passed the six-year mark; only ten percent of persons with ALS make it to seven years and beyond. A year after being diagnosed Gary accepted a position on the Board of Directors of the ALS Association Northern New England Chapter. He completed his two-year term in February 2008. In the fall of that year, he partnered with Orm Irish and Lee Urban to co-found the Maine ALS Collaborative to bring together Maine's top ALS-related organizations with the goal of improving services and the quality of life to the state's ALS population.