VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — We’ve seen many ways of raising awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a debilitating and incurable disease, including the ice bucket challenges from a few years ago.
Andrea Lytle Peet is a patient of limb onset ALS.
Throughout her life, Peet says she's always been competitive, but her diagnosis in 2014 drove her to the finish line of 50 marathons in every state.
"When I started doing this, I didn't think that I would actually make it to all 50 marathons with ALS. It was really about having the courage," said peet.
Some people will try to run 50 marathons in a lifetime, but peet said her time was more limited than the average person.
According to the ALS Association, many patients will only live 2 to 5 years. Peet, who has been living with ALS for nine years says her unknown timeline only propelled her to finish strong.
In 2022, peet crossed her 50th finish line in Alaska, officially becoming the first person with ALS to race in all 50 states. Throughout her journey, Peet's marathons were documented in a film called 'Go On, Be Brave'.
On Sunday, the premiere of her journey was shown at Virginia Wesleyan University.
Peet says she hopes the movie relays this important message to those who watch it:
"The worst thing that can happen to you doesn't determine your life," said Peet. "You can grow from that and use what happened to make the world better."
While life is short for everyone, Peet says what matters most is what we choose to do with the time we have.
After receiving her diagnosis, Peet set up Team Drea Foundation and so far has raised $1.2 million going toward ALS research.
To learn how you can donate or volunteer to support ALS, click the link here.
