Brian Wallach with his wife Sandra Abrevaya and their daughters in December 2022.Photo: Michael Enovijas/Pacific Dream Photography
Six months after he was given six months to live, Brian Wallach decided to fight.
Diagnosed with ALS in August of 2017 at just 37 years old, the father of two and former White House counsel forPresident Barack Obamadidn’t believe his progressive neurodegenerative disease had to be a death sentence.
“I have real hope,” the 42-year-old says in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “Based on the science and the amazing progress we’re making today, ALS is no longer hopeless.”
“This is a disease where families know what the natural conclusion is without the intervention of therapies,” says Abrevaya. “And if one gives you an extra 10 months, then another an extra six months, we’re buying ourselves time that’s going to help us be here for when a curative therapy arrives.”
WhenKatie Couricfirst heard about Wallach’s work, she reached out to him asking how she could help, ultimately coming on board as an executive producer of their documentary, alongsideEverybody Loves Raymondcreator Phil Rosenthal, who lost his mother to ALS. A chance meeting withRachel Plattenlater prompted her to donate the rights to her hit “Fight Song” to the film, offering an apt anthem.
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“What surprised me is how after watching the documentary, almost everyone’s first question is, ‘How can I help?’ " says Wallach. The impact is “beyond what I could have ever imagined — I can see and feel how much has changed, and I know we are not that far away from transforming ALS from fatal to chronic. And that’s worth fighting for every day.”
Barack Obama with No Ordinary Campaign’s Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya at an Obama Foundation alumni event to celebrate the SXSW premiere of the documentary.Courtesy The Obama Foundation
As they work to promote their film, Wallach and Abrevaya also continue to run their non-profitI AM ALS, which supports families facing the disease, and their newer companySynapticure, which improves access to care for people living with ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.
“There are moments when I’ve thought, ‘We’ve done a lot and it is time to step aside so someone else can be the face of this fight,’ " says Wallach. “But then I think about the friends I had in the beginning of the fight and how many of them have passed away, fighting until their last day. So I feel an obligation to keep fighting for them and for their families, because this has gone on for long enough. It is time to have the first ALS survivor.”
For more with Wallach and Abrevaya, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.
source: people.com
