Ride For Life: "Never, never, never quit;" ALS won't stop Eric Sawer

Eric Sawyer fits somewhere between watchdog and fixture in the encyclopedia of civic activism.

In the two years since moving from St. Louis back to his childhood home on Wilmot Street in Manchester, Sawyer has been a regular at City Hall on meeting nights.

Sometimes his is the only voice on the record during public comment. Sometimes he gets so worked up, he goes home and spends hours researching on the Internet, compiling data and doing the math so he can come back with a possible solution.

Or at least some plausible facts.

Sawyer's taken an interest in his local government for the same reason he sometimes sits back in his big, wooden swivel chair in his home office and laces his fingers together, recalling how life was before his hands started to twitch and tremble uncontrollably.

He has ALS -- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), a fatal neuromuscular disease that saps its victims' muscle strength and ravages neurons that govern motor skills. According to the National ALS Association, which has named May National ALS Awareness Month, it's a disease that destroys the body but leaves the mind intact.

Last year Sawyer compiled a list of personal rules for coping with his physical deterioration, part of a support group exercise for seasoned ALS sufferers who want to offer advice to those just diagnosed.

"No. 6: Pursue intellectual challenges." To that end Sawyer reads engineering text books regularly, mentors and tutors engineering students via the Internet and catches a taxi to City Hall, on average, twice a week.

His No. 1 rule? "Never, never, never quit," a quote by Winston Churchill. Sawyer's quiet tenacity is applied equally to the business of watch-dogging at City Hall and keeping ahead of his symptoms. He's also become a champion for those who, like him, want to live productive lives despite their disabilities.

Last year Sawyer was there to bring the Board of Mayor and Aldermen up to speed on a state law allowing cities to exempt the disabled from paying property taxes. The resolution was approved by the board in September.

"I was able to make a logical argument for the disabled in the community. I just set the facts forth so they could adopt the law," says Sawyer.

He's also proposed the idea of a disability commissioner to coordinate information and establish programs in Manchester.

"If you're disabled and need something, there's no mechanism inside city government to help you," says Sawyer.

Sawyer's goal is raising awareness about disabilities, particularly ALS, which affects an estimated 30,000 people, according to the National ALS Association.

So far, he's proving one person can make a difference.

During a short ceremony Tuesday night proclaiming ALS Month in Manchester before the aldermen's meeting, Mayor Robert Baines commended Sawyer for his contributions as an advocate for the city's disabled community.

Sawyer takes it all in stride. He says he's just trying to build bridges that will make the going easier for those who will follow.

"Sometimes I feel like Don Quixote jousting at windmills, and I wonder if anyone really hears me," says Sawyer. "But then I think about the people with ALS I've come across who are at their wit's end and ready to call Dr. Kevorkian. Pain is my most debilitating problem," says Sawyer, adding that he stopped taking his medication because he wanted a clear head. "When I came here in 1998 I wasn't supposed to live through Christmas. So why am Istill here? Tenacity," says Sawyer. "Never, never, never quit."

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