By CASEY NEILL
WINDERMERE staff were among people across Casey taking up the Ice Bucket Challenge last week.
The social media campaign is raising awareness around the world of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – known in Australia as motor neurone disease (MND).
Windermere family health and well-being manager Julie Knowles said there was no known treatment and most sufferers died within three years of diagnosis.
“We work with lots of people with motor neurone disease. They are incredibly courageous,” she said.
“You lose all your motor skills, from continence to walking to speech and yet your cognition is usually unaffected.
“And you still maintain your physical sensations, so while you might not be able to roll or to scratch your nose, it doesn’t stop your nose being itchy or the pain of lying in one position when you can’t move.”
Windermere looks set to raise $500 from its efforts in the pouring rain at the organisation’s Narre Warren head office on 1 September.
“It was very cold, but well worth it,” Ms Knowles said.
“Resources are really scarce on the ground and we wanted to raise money and raise awareness.”
The Windermere participants also included CEO Lynette Buoy, Lil Banks, Kylie White, Jodie Brew, Teresa Gibson, Lynda Hughes, Robyn Sheridan, Karen Wilde, Joelle Opperman, Tracey Millen, Andrea Carmody, Julie Pierce, Heidi Jagd, Tracey McQueen, Loata Smalley-Petersen, Sharyn Barber, Cheryle Koesemans and Genevieve Dawson.
Cranbourne’s Hyde Cooper Wells Accountants Malcolm Wells, Matt Bilcliff, Brad Denny and Floyd Simpson also completed the challenge last week.
They took part because they lost a client to MND in May last year, and because Mr Wells was “fortunate to be diagnosed with cancer” seven years ago – fortunate because he was here today, thanks to treatment and that cancer received money for research.
He said he wouldn’t be here today if he’d been diagnosed with MND.
Holt MP Anthony Byrne received a nomination from Julie Paull, whose husband Rex recently died from MND.
She said the Cranbourne 1st Scout division did the challenge to honour Rex, along with Mr Byrne and several others.
Mr Byrne nominated former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Westfield Fountain Gate manager Charlie Rimmer and Village Cinemas CEO Kirk Edwards to take the challenge.
