At 19, Tanya Sherriff died from a disease so horrible that Lt.-Gov. Lois Hole said it "chills the soul."

Sherriff died in July, becoming one of only two Canadians to die so young of an illness commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

She was on the minds of Hole and many of the 700 participants who raised more than $100,000 Saturday in Edmonton's second annual Walk to D'Feet ALS in Hawrelak Park. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stops messages from the brain reaching the muscles, leading to eventual paralysis despite the mind staying alert. It tends to strike older people.

Among Saturday's walkers were Tanya's father and mother, Harry and Cheryl Sherriff (see photo right), and country and western singer Adam Gregory, who became Tanya's friend in her final months.

"It's very difficult that she's gone," Cheryl, who is deaf, said through interpreter Tanya Adler. "Tanya was very sweet, very playful and laughed a lot."

Cheryl, 43, wasn't involved with the ALS Society of Alberta until this year. She signed up about 30 people for the walk, raising about $2,000.

Tanya was in Grade 11 at Queen Elizabeth high school when ALS forced her to withdraw. Cheryl said she wanted to help people, get married and have children.

"Now that's all taken from her, so it feels very unfair in many ways."

Tanya met singer Gregory through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Gregory, 17, said: "She's opened my eyes quite a bit about how important life is, and the importance of just enjoying it while you're alive."

Hole, a patron of the ALS Society, joined with Gregory and Cheryl Sherriff in cutting the ribbon for the start of the five-kilometre walk.

Beforehand, Hole told participants that ALS "is one of the most insidious diseases in the world. Those stricken are left with healthy, active minds trapped in unresponsive bodies -- a fate that chills the soul of anyone who seriously contemplates it."

ALS victims need "all the support and love we can give them," she said. "That means the supplies and equipment to stay as active and healthy as possible today and, perhaps even more importantly, hope for tomorrow."

Organizers say the final total from Saturday's walk will be about $110,000 and, with contributions from a walk the same day in Cold Lake, may approach the official goal of $125,000.

FACTS ON ALS
- People who have died from ALS include baseball players Lou Gehrig and Jim (Catfish) Hunter, actor David Niven and, in Alberta, former attorney general Neil Crawford.

- Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking continues to work at Cambridge University despite being diagnosed with ALS 25 years ago.

- About 150 Albertans are known to have ALS, 70 of them in northern Alberta.

- From Saturday's fundraising, 40 per cent will go towards national and international research and the rest will be for support of ALS patients in Alberta.

GRAPHIC: Photo: Bruce Edwards, The Journal; Harry and Cheryl Sherriff carry a poster of their daughter Tanya.

LOAD-DATE: September 29, 2002
Document 1 of 13