Celebs Join Westchester Walkers to Defeat ALS at Tibbetts Brook Park

Pitching legend Tommy John was at the Walk to Defeat ALS at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers on Sunday to help raise awareness for The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter, a non-profit that funds research and provides vital patient services for people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Almost 800 people attended the walk joining local politicians like Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who was the honorary Walk Chairman.

John's teammate on the New York Yankees, Catfish Hunter, died from ALS in 1999. During a speech at the walk, John said that Hunter asked his friends and former teammates to carry on the fight against ALS after he was gone.

"He called us all into his house... and he said you know guys back in my day when I started a game I went nine innings," John said. "Unfortunatley I'm not going to go be able to go nine innings in this fight so I want you guys to be my bullpen."

As an advocate, John has traveled to Washington D.C. and has testified about the need for funding for research into a treatment and cure for ALS in front of Congress.

Sunday marked the tenth anniversary of the Walk to Defeat ALS in Westchester. Since the first Westchester walk, over 50,000 Americans have died from the disease and every day a New Yorker is diagnosed with ALS, and tragically, every day a New Yorker also dies from ALS, according to The ALS Association. Military Veterans are also twice as likely to develop ALS.

There is no known cause, no effective treatment, and no cure for ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Many patients die within three to five years but some can live longer depending on its progression.

You can still donate to the Walk to Defeat ALS by clicking here. For more information on The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter, please visit the website.