Merrimack Woman Named ALS Ambassador

A young woman from Merrimack has been named by the ALS Therapy Development Institute as an ambassador to help lead the Young Faces of ALS campaign this year.

The 11 ambassadors, all younger than 30, are young men and women affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Katie Shambo, 20, from Merrimack, lost her father, Joe, to ALS when she was 13 years old. He was diagnosed when she was 6. She speaks about her father in this video above.

The YFALS program is driven by several ALS patients diagnosed with the disease before the age of 30, along with family members and friends of people with ALS who are younger than 30 years old. The young men and women selected to lead the campaign are called “YFALS Ambassadors,” and together they will participate in awareness campaigns via the YFALS Facebook page, YFALS website, and within their communities. Additionally, these ambassadors hope to encourage greater action to support on-going research at ALS TDI in discovering and developing treatments and a cure for the disease. The other 10 ambassadors hail from Minnesota, Florida, California, Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia, Washington and Massachusetts.

In 2010, YFALS Ambassadors participated in several 4ALS Day events at MLB ballparks, and in 2011, the campaign expanded to include a national “Corntoss Challenge” in cities nationwide. 

To learn more about the YFALS Campaign and the 2013 YFALS Ambassadors, visit www.yfals.com and www.facebook.com/YoungFacesOfALS.