Former nurses aide fights own battle with ALS

FRANKLIN - A woman who once cared for a patient afflicted with the crippling ALS disease is now waging a battle against it herself.

Thea Newell, who resides with her son, Mark, 30, in Foxboro, was a nurses aide in a Norwood nursing home when she tended to the woman in 1983.

"She became very dear to us. I thought, 'What an awful way to die,' " Newell said.

"She just loved that woman. She adored her and here she has the same thing," said Marcia Ledbury, Newell's cousin from Franklin.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease because the famous baseball player died of it.

Newell was the guest of honor at a fund-raising event held for her yesterday afternoon at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Rte. 140. She was not told of the fund-raiser until Thursday night.

"She cried tears of joy," Ledbury.

"I was overwhelmed," Newell said.

The event started out as a family gathering and grew. It was organized by Ledbury and Newell's two sisters-in-law, Norma Fondina and Maureen Newell.

"I did not know I had so many friends," Ledbury said as she glanced around the function room. She admitted she was nervous before she came to the fund-raiser.

Mitt Romney, who is candidate for governor, donated $5,000 to the ALS Foundation for research in honor of Newell.

Newell, a divorced mother with three sons, came to this country from her native Germany in 1961.

She was diagnosed with ALS two years ago and her condition has deteriorated rapidly. She has lost the agility in her hands and relies on a walker to get around.

Newell was pushed in a wheelchair yesterday at the Knights of Columbus by her son, Mark, who is an environmental scientist with a Westford firm.

"He is her guardian angel," Ledbury said.

An energetic woman by nature, Newell is frustrated that she can't do the things she wants to do.

"You can't feel sorry for yourself. You can't ask 'why me.' Why anybody," she said.

"It is a rotten disease," she said.

She used to enjoy being the life of the party and despite her limitations, still enjoys a good time.

"Big time. I'm a nut at a party," she said.

Newell is the mother of Michael, 39, and Daniel, 37, and will turn 62 in November.

The fund-raiser included an Italian buffet, music, prizes and numerous items to be raffled off including a weekend at the Foxwoods Hotel.

Ledbury said many of the baskets to be raffled off were from corporate businesses she had solicited.

Proceeds from the fund-raiser will help Newell with medical expenses and the installation of a handicap ramp at her home.