SM 15 — "PATRICK GRANGE ALS AWARENESS DAY"

SENATE MEMORIAL 15 54TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2019 INTRODUCED BY Clemente Sanchez 6 8 10 A MEMORIAL PROCLAIMING FEBRUARY 4, 2019 "PATRICK GRANGE ALS AWARENESS DAY" IN THE SENATE.

145 WHEREAS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, is better known as Lou Gehrig's disease;

and WHEREAS, ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that is e t 17 characterized by degeneration of the cell bodies of the lower w l n d 18 motor neurons in the gray matter of the anterior horns of the = = 19 a l spinal cord;

and i a e r 20 WHEREAS, the initial symptom of ALS is weakness of the a t m m 21 skeletal muscles, especially those of the extremities;

and d r e 22 WHEREAS, as ALS progresses, the patient experiences c e s k 23 difficulty in swallowing, talking and breathing;

and e a n b 24 WHEREAS, ALS eventually causes muscles to atrophy, and the u [ patient becomes a functional quadriplegic;

and .212531.1 WHEREAS, ALS does not affect a patient's mental capacity, so the patient remains alert and aware of the patient's loss of motor functions and of the inevitable outcome of continued deterioration and death;

and WHEREAS, research indicates that military veterans have a fifty percent greater risk of developing ALS than those who SM 15 have not served in the military;

and Page 1 WHEREAS, ALS has no known cause, no means of prevention and no cure;

and WHEREAS, in 2010, soon after his twenty-eighth birthday, former university of New Mexico lobo and Albuquerque high school soccer star Patrick Grange was diagnosed with ALS, e e 17 making him the youngest ALS patient in New Mexico;

and e e n d 18 WHEREAS, as a senior, Pat led the Albuquerque high school = = l ] 19 bulldogs to a district 1-5A championship title;

and a l r i 20 WHEREAS, Pat was the first soccer player to be inducted t e a t into the Albuquerque high school athletic hall of fame;

and m m 21 e d r e 22 WHEREAS, as a senior at the university of New Mexico, Pat c e r c 23 started in all twenty games for the lobos' men's soccer team, e a n b 24 was third on the team in scoring and scored two goals in the u [ national collegiate athletic association tournament;

and .212531.1 - 2 - WHEREAS, despite fighting this terrible disease as hard as he could, Pat died of ALS on April 10, 2012;

SM 15 Page 2 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 4, 2019 be proclaimed "Patrick Grange ALS Awareness Day" in the senate;

and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the interim legislative health and human e e 17 services committee.

eSM e15 nPage d 18 - 3 -25 = = l ] 19 a l r i 20 t e a t m m 21 e d r e 22 c e r c 23 e a n b 24 u [ .212531.1