We are writing this blog to honor a great man, Timmy Guidry. We never got the chance to meet him, but were introduced to his story via email and would love to share it. His life is inspiration to all of us.
See emails and pictures below:
From Brittney Logan
Timmy got diagnosed when his wife was pregnant with their youngest daughter. He was told the usual diagnosis, that he should expect to live for about 5-7 more years. Timmy, being the amazing fighter that he is, has been fighting ALS for 20 years now. The main thing that keeps him fighting for his life is his 3 daughters. He doesn’t want to miss anything in their lives. Timmy had been confined to the bed since 5 years after his diagnosis. However, even though he isn’t mobile he can still mouth words and be understood by all his family and nurses. His family is a huge follower of Steve Gleason and so grateful for all that the foundation has done. And now for the bad news, a week ago Timmy experienced the beginning of respiratory failure. After 20 years of fighting his body is finally starting to give out. We have been told that this is the last stage of ALS. He is giving it his all and you can tell in his eyes that he is still fighting to live, but it is only a matter of time before his respiratory system shuts down. Being the longest person in all of Louisiana to live with ALS is such a huge accomplishment that him and his family are very proud of. I was writing this letter to ask for prayers and/or recognition for this amazing man. His family has never left his side since his respiratory system started shutting down. The care that his wife has had for him over these 20 years is just unimaginable. She has dedicated her life to taking care of him every minute of every day and has had a love for him that you just don’t see in todays world. I wanted to thank the entire Steve Gleason foundation for all that they do.
From Mitchell Meyers
I thought I would take some time to write about our much loved “Uncle” Timmy Guidry from Estherwood, LA – a small village (pop. 500 or so) about 2.5 hours west of New Orleans. If I recall accurately, and I may be wrong, but I believe he is the longest living person diagnosed with ALS in the United States, having been diagnosed the disease over 20 years ago, when his youngest daughter, Leslie, was a baby.
Since then, he has become a central figure to all of his family (which does include me) as the definition of “fighter” and “survivor”. I used to change light bulbs and help with minor repairs in his house when he became unable to do so and his wife, Mary, and 3 daughters were unable to do so. He is a huge Saints fan and we held quite a few parties at his house, of course while watching the Saints play football. While he couldn’t use his voice, he has always been able to mouth words and laugh and semi-wink. Those were some good times! In the past 3 years, he has been able to see 2 of his 3 daughters get married, in his backyard, through his bedroom window, thanks to his family’s efforts.
Recently, yesterday afternoon, the family has been called in and notified that he has 24 – 36 hours left as his lungs were beginning to no longer function. Timmy’s 20+ year fight is coming to an end. My father (who had Timmy as his best man in 1979) visited with him last night and said he was in a lot of pain and sleeping on and off. I wanted to inform Team Gleason of this because it is really good to see that there are others that will fight like Timmy has fought for so long, and one day from Heaven, Timmy will be able to see that we have succeeded in defeating ALS. I am hoping Team Gleason can draw inspiration from Timmy’s fight and keep him and his family in their thoughts and prayers
He went to heaven at 2:30am February 11th. He was surrounded by his family and went peacefully. The last stage of ALS, which was respiratory failure, finally wore his body down.
