A Barrie, Ont. man who has been living with ALS for more than nine years skydived from a height of approximately 12,500 feet on Saturday as part of an annual event that raises money for ALS research.
Derek Walton landed in Innisfil, Ont., just north of Toronto, as part of the annual Jumping 4 PALS (People with ALS) event. This is Walton's third jump.
The money raised from the event will be used to support ALS research at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.
To date, Walton has raised more than $200,000 for ALS research and his goal is to make the jump a world-wide event.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gerhig's disease, causes patients to slowly become paralyzed as motor neurons in their brain and spinal cord degenerate over time.
Eighty per cent of ALS patients die within five years of being diagnosed. Only 10 per cent live for a decade or longer after learning they have the disease.
According to statistics posted on the ALS Society of Canada website, somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 Canadians are battling the disease at any given time.
