Wayne Resident Suffering from Myasthenia Gravis Holds 18th Annual Walk-A-Thon in Wayne May 2

For the past 26 years, Kelley DeVincentis has been living with Myasthenia Gravis (MG), an autoimmune, neuromuscular disease that can cause severe muscle weakness and strikes roughly 70,000 Americans.

It all began when she was just 16-years-old and suddenly began experiencing crippling weakness.

“For years I was unable to perform even the basic human functions like climb stairs, walk, speak, smile, stand or swallow my own saliva,” DeVincentis said. “Even though I started the take medication to help alleviate the weakness, it failed me and I had no choice but to go on life support three times.”

“It’s humiliating and humbling to lose control of your body and even worse when the world around you has no idea what MG is and how if can affect you,” she said.

But instead of letting MG control her, DeVincentis began the first annual MG Walk-A-Thon to raise money for research 17 years ago.

Now she is preparing for the 18th Annual Myasthenia Gravis (MG) Walk-A-Thon, which is set for Saturday, May 2 at 10 a.m. Participants will walk less than 3 miles, beginning at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Wayne and walking one lap around Packanack Lake.

DeVincentis got the idea for the Walk-A-Thon in January of 1998 during one of her many stays in ICU.

“Just five months later, with just $100 of my own money, I was able to gather friends, family and even strangers to execute that first Walk-A-Thon,” said DeVincentis. “The results ... were phenomenal. Just over 100 people attended, taking in more than $11,000.”

Once DeVincentis proved that the Walk could be successful, she went to the national organization and made several presentations. The national origination agreed about 4 years ago, and started walks in several cities across the US.

“That was one of my goals, besides raising awareness and raising funds to eradicate MG,” DeVincentis said.

Today, the MG Walk-A-Thon has generated more than $600,000 and has helped fund a vaccine research project spearheaded by www.curavac.com that is going to human trials in days.

Those who are interested in participating in the 2015 MG Walk-A-Thon can sign up by visiting www.mgnjwalk.org or calling 800-437-4949. Participants are asked to raise $25.