In memory of 'Jake,' they took the heat Family and friend of the late Robert Lehman Jr. participate in the Walk to defeat ALS - to honor 'a great guy' and to raise funds to combat Lou Gehrig's Disease Story & Photo By Duane Good, Editor

Members of the "Jake's Journey" team walk across the Walnut Street Bridge as part of the 2010 Harrisburg Walk to Defeat ALS July 17.

With the humidity high and the temperatures in the 90s, you would have needed a good reason to take a two-mile walk. For several residents of the Sentinel's coverage area, the late Robert ‘‘Jake’’ Lehman Jr. was a very good reason. Family and friends of the late Millersburg resident took that two-mile walk recently, both to honor Lehman’s memory and to do their part to battle the disease that claimed his life in March 2008 – ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Caling themselves ‘‘Jake’s Journey,’’ the group comprised of Lehman’s family and friends was one of more than 80 teams that participated in the 2010 Harrisburg Walk to Defeat ALS, held in the city of Harrisburg July 17.

Teams walked across the Harrisburg side of the Walnut Street Bridge, then on a segment of  the city’s Riverfront Park, then back across the bridge and around the perimeter of Metro Bank Park on City Island, covering a distance of two miles.

Teams took pledges and raised more than $175,000 for research and awareness efforts about ALS. Lou Gehrig's Disease (so named because it claimed the life of the famous New York Yankees baseball player) causes the degeneration of motor cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, followed by severe impairment of mobility, speech, swallowing and breathing.

At this item, there is no cure. Average life expectancy is two to five years from diagnosis, according to the ALS Association Web site.

Jake Lehman was best known locally as a business  owner and for his four decades as a volunteer firefighter. He died March 24, 2008 at age 56.

The name ‘‘Jake’s Journey’’ originated with a fund-raiser the Lehman family and friends held in Millersburg a few months after Jake’s death. Since then, a ‘‘Jake’s Journey’’ team has participated each year in the annual Harrisburg Walk to Defeat ALS, organized by the ALS Association/Greater Philadelphia Chapter.

One of Lehmans friends who participated in the 2010 Harrisburg walk was former Millersburg resident Jeff Alleman. Alleman traveled from New Jersey because of his long friendship with Jake.

‘‘Jake was a great guy,’’ Alleman noted.

For Lehman’s loved ones – and the people who supported the Lehman family after Jake’s diagnosis – the annual walks have brought them in contact with hundreds of other people who’ve had, or are having, the same experience.

‘‘We had no idea how many people know someone who was affected by ALS until we took part in these walks,’’ said Linda Lehman, Jake’s wife. ‘‘You learn that you are not alone in what you’ve gone through.’’

In this region, families affected by ALS have a valuable resource in the ALS Association Center at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The center’s goal is not only to diagnose ALS, but to provide ALS patients and their families with comprehensive care and support. (For more information, log on to www.alsphiladelphia.org  and click onto ‘‘Clinics.’’)

‘‘They are wonderful with anything you need,’’ Linda Lehman said. She noted the number of clinic staff who participated in the Harrisburg walk – including the doctor who treated Jake – as a sign of how much they care about ALS patients and their families.

The goal of the Harrisburg walk – as for all similar walks held throughout the United States – is to raise funds to be used toward finding a cure for ALS. Already, advances in research and improved medical care are enabling many ALS patients to live  as long as five to 10 years (sometimes longer) after diagnosis, according to the ALS Association Web site.

‘‘While recent research has shed light on possible causes of ALS, its cure remains a mystery. However, recent advances and increased funding for research truly make this a time of hope,’’ according to a statement on the site.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALS

The Harrisburg office of the ALS Association can be reached at 652-2800.

The association’s Web site is:
www.alsphiladelphia.org