Copyright 2004 National Broadcasting Co. Inc.  
NBC News Transcripts
SHOW: Today (7:00 AM ET) - NBC
May 7, 2004 Friday
LENGTH: 592 words
HEADLINE: ALS sufferer Chris Pendergast discusses his Ride For Life
ANCHORS: MATT LAUER; KATIE COURIC

MATT LAUER, co-host:

But first, over the past two years we have followed a courageous man from Long Island as he leads the fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. His name is Chris Pendergast. And every year for the last six he has organized the Ride For Life, where he and other ALS patients ride their wheelchairs hundreds of miles in order to increase awareness. And he's here with some other--other people, including Jack Ellwood, who's standing right next to Katie. Chris...

KATIE COURIC, co-host:

And his daughter, Trish.

LAUER: Hi. How are you?

Chris, nice to see you. How you doing?

Mr. CHRIS PENDERGAST (Founder, Ride For Life): Nice to see you, Matt. We're doing very well. Thank you.

COURIC: Tell me a bit--little bit about your efforts to do this, Chris. I know it started many years ago. We featured you on the program for the past few years. Do you feel as if any strides are making--are being made in the battle to come up with a cure?

Mr. PENDERGAST: Absolutely. We're very encouraged. This year, the four--the fourth genetic flaw has been identified for forms of ALS. There are several drugs that are very promising that are in various stages of research. We're--we're very optimistic.

COURIC: Perhaps some of the private funding of stem cell research, too, will result in some promising treatments and possibly a cure?

Mr. PENDERGAST: Absolutely. We're hoping that--that research moves forward. We're encouraged by the action of states like New Jersey that are bringing research to the state level. We're also excited about gene therapy; there is a gene therapy experiment ready to go, and we hope it's under way this winter.

LAUER: Jack, I know you were diagnosed recently. Why did you want to take part in this?

Mr. JACK ELLWOOD (Diagnosed With ALS): Well, I--I--the way I looked at it was that I had two choices, and the one choice was to be as involved as I possibly can to help find a cure, and the other was to do nothing. And then Chris got in touch with me and recruited me for the ride, and the rest is history. And I'm looking forward to the week.

COURIC: So often, ALS is misdiagnosed and it takes a long time for doctors to identify the problem. What were some of your symptoms so people can be aware of discussing it with their doctor?

Mr. ELLWOOD: Well, I--my first symptoms were a little bit of muscle cramping and then muscle fasciculations, which is muscle twitching.

COURIC: Right.

Mr. ELLWOOD: And the twitching started in my arms. And I was actually at a physical exam when the doctor noticed it and referred me to a neurologist.

COURIC: So you got diagnosed fairly quickly.

Mr. ELLWOOD: Within six months of--of my first visit, yes.

COURIC: Well, I think it's wonderful what you're doing, because 30,000 people in this country at any given time are suffering from ALS. And because there really isn't a treatment or cure right now, you don't hear that much from--from victims of the disease. So I so admire what you're doing, Chris, and all of you, for being involved in this effort.

LAUER: And we appreciate you coming.

COURIC: And--and, Trish, you going to go and support your daddy? Good. Well, it's so nice to meet you, too.

LAUER: And I see the Web site down there, www.rideforlife.com, if people want more information.

Mr. PENDERGAST: Yeah.

COURIC: Anyway, thanks for coming by. Good luck.

LAUER: Chris, thanks. Good luck. Jack, thank you.

Mr. PENDERGAST: Well, thanks for having us.

COURIC: All right. All the best to you all.