World Record-Breaking Flight Takes to the Sky to Find Cure for ALS
Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics NewsNovember 17, 2008
Pilots Circle the Globe in Seven Days to Raise Money and Awareness for Fatal Lou Gehrig’s Disease
CarolAnn Garratt and Carol Foy preparing for world-record breaking flight to benefit ALS.
ORLANDO, FL–(Marketwire – November 10, 2008) – Flying for a cure, CarolAnn Garratt and Carol Foy, who have family members diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, will circumnavigate the world in seven days, in a small, single-engine plane, attempting to shatter a world record to raise money and awareness for ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Paying 100 percent of the trip expenses, the pilots are raising $1 million to find a cure for ALS. ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease which attacks the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord resulting in progressive paralysis and is considered fatal. There is no known effective treatment for ALS.
“When my mother was diagnosed with ALS, I bought my first Mooney plane so I could fly from my home in Orlando to visit her in Virginia,” said CarolAnn Garratt. “When my mother passed away, I knew I wanted to use my love of flying to help find a cure for this fatal disease. Carol and I hope that this flight will bring ALS TDI one step closer to developing a treatment so that no other family has to suffer from this devastating disease like ours did.”
After CarolAnn lost her mother to ALS in 2002, she vowed to fly around the world to raise awareness and donations for the disease that took her mother’s life. Like 90 percent of ALS patients, her mother passed away within five years of being diagnosed. One of Carol Foy’s family members was also diagnosed last year.
Working closely with ALS Therapy Development Institute, the leading nonprofit working on a cure, this team is dedicated to finding effective treatments for those living with ALS, which affects a new family every 90 minutes in the U.S.
“We thank both CarolAnn and Carol for making it their mission to fight for a cause that is near and dear to their hearts as well as many others all over the world,” said Steve Perrin, Chief Scientific Officer, ALS TDI. “Combined with our global efforts, it is this teamwork that will be the driving force for finding the cure.”
The current world record, accredited by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale set in 1988, averaged a speed of 56.8 mph, including all stops for refueling. The pilot duo, CarolAnn and Carol, are planning an average speed of 120 mph with only nine stops for refueling.
If you would like to make a donation to support CarolAnn and Carol in Dash for a Cure, please visit http://www.alsworldflight.com/. To date, StarPort Cambata Aviation in Stanford, Florida; Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc. in Houston, TX; and Scheyden Sunglasses have significantly contributed to make this a success.
About the ALS Therapy Development Institute
The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) (www.als.net), based in Cambridge, Mass., operates the world’s largest research and development program focused exclusively on ALS. The Institute has a staff of more than 30 scientists and research technicians, working on behalf of ALS patients to discover and advance novel therapeutics for treating, and ultimately curing, ALS. The nonprofit biotechnology institute excels in identifying novel disease targets, discovering compounds that may act against these targets, and screening potential treatments for clinical development.
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