UPDATE:CMT Man with rare disease walking to Toronto

[Guest guest]

Dear ers,

Today I had the good fortune of speaking with Larry O'Leary about

his walk for CMT, GBS and CIDP to Toronto. He is quite upbeat and

positive, and despite numerous surgeries, braces, and the rest, he

has had a new pair of special boots made for his walk, and he

figures he will finish it in 18 days and cover roughly 100 miles.

His new lightweight boots were made by Canadian Custom Shoe Lab Ltd,

and they are a sponsor of his walk.

The Walk starts TOMORROW, Tuesday April 3rd 9AM (Eastern Canadian

time) from Bowmanville, Ontario. A big " send-off " celebration is

planned in the morning, with dignitaries and the press on hand.

Each day Larry plans to walk as far his body will allow, then stop

and return home, then continue next day where he left off the day

before.

Larry has a caring group of people keeping an eye on him, and

expects to complete this " awareness " walk for CMT, GBS and CIDP, all

of which he has. There is both rain and snow in the forecast, but

Larry's walk will go on. 50% of any funds raised will go towards

research for the 3 disorders at London Health Sciences Centre.

Larry stated " at least I will know exactly that the funds will go,

to research " .

After five surgeries, including a foot fusion, 63 year old Larry

says " in my mind I feel 35 " , states the former Actor/Director. He

has 8 children, 4 of whom also have CMT.

Larry would like to ask members of to send him a card, so at

the end of his walk, he can sit down, rest and read them all. His

snail mail address is:

Larry O'Leary

94 Concession Street East Unit 22

Bowmanville, Ontario

L1C 4V2

So, to all members, please, if you can, send a special card to

Larry. Your thoughts and prayers for this special man are also

needed for his walk.

He will also send me copies of all the press his walk receives, plus

my news service will pick up on it too. For more information on the

walk and Larry, if you missed the first post on this, go to

http://larryswalk.com

The last thing Larry told me was " tell members I am walking

for them too " ! The last mile of his walk will be accompanied by

fellow thespians and clowns, and will end at the national conference

for GBS/CIDP in Toronto.

If you live in the Ontario/Bowmanville-to Toronto area, you just may

see Larry walking for awareness, if you do, say hello to him and

please let us all know of your experience.

Thanks for whatever you can do in support of this awareness event,

and the future of medical research.

~ Gretchen