Scottsdale Walk to Defeat ALS

When you think of John Buchanan, what comes to mind? Friend? Mentor? Police officer? A man who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro? Water-skier? Husband? Father? What if I told you that John, my dad, is slowly being robbed of every bodily function because that’s what happens when you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Last November, my dad was diagnosed with ALS.
To go into detail about all that ALS does to the body is too burdensome. What I can tell you is that my father has a terminal disease that is destroying the function of every voluntary muscle in his body while leaving his senses and mental faculties untouched. There is no cure for ALS and very few treatment options. A man who, less than two years ago, was water-skiing, speaking publicly on leadership and law enforcement, taking walks with his daughter, and looking forward to retirement life with his family, can now barely speak and needs a machine to help him breathe at night.
So much of who we are, as people, is an amalgamation of our past physical and intellectual achievements. My dad is no different. ALS is stripping him of almost all the abilities that allowed him to attain the accomplishments that we associate with him. My dad has trouble walking, talking, breathing, and even eating. My father has lost and is losing huge, defining pieces of himself. However, there is one trait ALS cannot take from my dad and that is his strength of character. He had no control over the diagnosis or its progression, but he can control the choices he makes now. It is in these choices that his character truly shines. My dad is dealing with his diagnosis with grace, courage, and strength, everyday counting his blessings and never allowing ALS to squelch that fire we all know burns within him. He is fighting ALS, the only way he can, by holding onto who he is as a person. Essentially, the man behind the police officer, behind the speaker, behind the husband, father, and friend is fighting one, last battle, making one, final stand.
There is very little we can do to aid my dad in combatting ALS. However, in the Phoenix ALS Walk, we have an opportunity to honor the man he was, he is, and who he will always be to those whose lives he has touched. His character compelled him to live in such a way that he constantly changed lives, whether it was on his beat as a servant of the community, a leader working to improve law enforcement around the world, as your friend, and as my dad. It is through this walk then, that we have a way to fight for him by picking up the beat and joining the team Night Walking Beat and attending the Phoenix ALS Walk, donating money, or offering support and friendship. We can help him by standing beside him, offering our strength to do what he can no longer do. Continue the fight against the disease that is robbing him from us far too early, so that others might be spared the devastating loss this disease causes. So, join me to show him that he is not alone in this, his final fight, against ALS.