Photo By Mike Meares | Members of the 647th Air Base Group and 154th Wing security forces squadrons walk...... read more read more
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Since she couldn’t be in Hawaii, so her defenders brought Hawaii to her, via video chat.
Airmen from the 647th Air Base Group, 154th Wing and Pacific Air Forces security forces squadrons, alongside the Honolulu Police Auxiliary League, strapped on ruck sacks and struck out through downtown Honolulu Oct. 20 to support Hawaiian native (Ret.) Master Sgt. Evelyn Proctor, a former security forces defender who was recently diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. They linked up at the beginning of the event through the Internet.
“It’s overwhelming,” Proctor said via video chat. “It gives me the strength and courage to roll over everyday to continue to fight this. I can’t thank you enough from them bottom of my heart.”
The 56th Security Forces Squadron airmen, Luke AFB, Ariz., extended the invitation to the Hawaii based defenders to simultaneously participate in Walk to Defeat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a walk which raises funds for those battling Lou Gehrig's disease in Scottsdale.
“They wanted to do a three-mile ruck march to motivate her in fight against the disease and to show they supported her,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert King, 647th SFS. “We basically wanted to show her that ‘hey look, we stand behind you and support you during your fight. We want you to beat your diagnosis as well.’”
King described the fraternity that security forces airmen belong, no matter where they are on the globe, are part of a “defender” family.
“Once the Skype feed got up and we actually saw her face, the initial view of her and how her face lit up when she saw everyone (in Hawaii) there to support her energized everybody. You could feel it in the air,” he said. “For all of us to come together and be a blessing to someone is always a great thing. I don’t know a security forces member in the United States Air Force who wouldn’t be motivated to stand behind a fellow defender for support and motivation in order to fight and beat her diagnosis.”
May 10, 2010, is the day that forever changed the Proctor family. During a similar march for police week, Proctor started to lose movement in her upper and lower extremities. Fearing she had a stroke, she was referred to a neurologist who, on June 24, 2011, diagnosed her with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
The debilitating disease damages nerves, muscles and affects the nerve cells in the brain. The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body, making normal functions like eating and breathing very difficult in late stages. Currently, there isn't a cure.
Staff Sgt. John Haines, 647th SFS, was stationed with Proctor at Luke AFB from 2009 until recently. He thinks it’s fitting, since the first symptoms of her disease appeared while on a ruck march, that they support her with a march of their own in her home state.
“(She’s) a great leader, mentor and even a better person. She the best supervisor, mentor I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “She impacted my life a lot. What better support to her than from her home town; we’re all defenders, no matter where you’re at as far as location.”
As the Proctors continue their day-to-day fight with a relentless foe, the security forces airmen from Hawaii, most of which having never met her personally, want the Proctors to know they are with her in thought and prayer, fighting this together.
“My defenders will always be in my heart,” she said. “They are truly my defenders, my family, my extended family.”
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 10.24.2012 19:16 |
| Story ID: | 96702 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEAL HAIR RESERVE BASEOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 433 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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