The Fight Against Huntington’s Disease

13,000-Mile Cross Country Walk Brings

Pastor Don Stevenson to West Unity

 

By Timothy Kays

Williams County Publishing

 

Huntington’s Disease, or HD, is a neurological affliction that like its more famous cousins, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, is merciless and incurable. This inherited disorder slowly robs its victims of their personalities, as well as their cognitive and motor capacities, and since it is genetic, the children of HD patients run a 50% risk of developing the disease themselves. The affliction wreaks havoc on the financial, social and emotional fabric of the family unit that is forced to cope with the effects of the disease.

HD typically begins in the mid-life years between the ages of 30 to 45, but it has tragically appeared in children as young as the age of two. The children who contract the juvenile form of HD rarely live to see adulthood. The progressive loss of neurons in specific centers of the brain eventually result in the need for continual nursing care. Eventually, the severe impairment brought on by HD brings about secondary diseases like pneumonia. It is these secondary diseases, not the HD directly, that result in the death of the patient.

HD has no known cure, but research into the full understanding of, and the eventual cure of the disease is ongoing. This research is by no means inexpensive, and without the ‘celebrity endorsements’ or media coverage that have been afforded to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s research, donations and awareness are sorely needed. Enter into the picture ‘The Pacin’ Parson’, Pastor Don Stevenson of Auburn, Washington. One would ask what an ex-Marine, 72-year old pastor and native of Columbus, Ohio could do for the cause, other than pray. Ahhh…but this is no ordinary septuagenarian church pastor!

Pastor Don Stevenson strolls into Burlington on US 20 (ALT).

Pastor Stevenson has been blessed with good health, and an uncanny ability to walk. In speaking of his youth, he said, “Once I almost drowned in a nearby lake because I didn’t know how to swim. I saved myself by sinking to the bottom, and running like crazy to shore.” He has taken that hoofing ability, and put it to the best of uses in what he calls, ‘Walks of Love’, and he’s done quite a few. In 1998, at the age of 62, he walked 3,000 miles from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Maine to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s…and that was just a start. He has hit the road every year since, putting in over 33,000 miles for various charities…including a 2004 climb to the 12,300 foot level of Mt. Rainier (at age 68) to benefit American Lung Association. In 2007, he began his longest trek to date, a 13,000-mile trip that benefits the

Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA). Pastor Stevenson has dedicated this walk to those afflicted with HD, and to his close friend, Jack Meteyer. Mr. Meteyer has lost his mother and three of his siblings to HD. The long march is expected to conclude at the Empire State Building in New York City on September 15, but his path took him through Downtown West Unity on the early afternoon of July 31.

With all those miles now behind him, Pastor Stevenson was not ambiguous about what he felt has been the biggest highlights of the trek. “Most of the highlights have been meeting the people who have Huntington’s, or have loved ones with it, and they stop by and thank me for doing this. That’s the only reward I get.” For the most part, the weather has been cooperative. “Coming through Montana and North Dakota, it was wet, cold and windy because it was early May, and unusually cold for that time of year,” he said.

So far, this latest jaunt has raised $13,000 for the HDSA. Pastor Stevenson hopes that by the time that he reaches the Big Apple, that figure will have more than doubled. If enough people pledge a penny per mile ($130), a $20,000 total will easily be reached. 100% of the contributions go directly to the HDSA.

To make a contribution in support of Pastor Stevenson’s efforts, contact the HDSA at 206-464-9598. Checks can be mailed to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, (Code #070TH03) P.O. Box 33345 Seattle, WA  98133. Online donations may be made at www.firstgiving.com/10kmilewalk.

According to Pastor Stevenson’s website, this is his ‘First Farewell Tour’, but I get the strong impression that he is a long way from his last. For updates on his journey, go to his busy website at www.pacinparson.org.

 

Timothy Kays can be reached at tim@advancereporter.com