Health · Sports

This is what ALS is

Bob CollinsBob Collins Nov 10, 2014
5

Take a long look at this picture of former Minnesota Viking Orlando Thomas.

HARRISON WRIGHT THOMAS

Now try to reconcile that picture with this line from Star Tribune reporter Paul Walsh’s story today.

Thomas weighed a mere 70 pounds upon his death, less than a third of his 225 pounds while playing safety as a Viking.

His last tweet came a year and a half ago.

That’s ALS, which finally claimed Thomas today.

Back when the Ice Bucket Challenge was a thing, his agent, Mark Bertelstein, dumped the ice water in honor of Thomas.

Orlando Thomas was just 42, but he got his diagnosis in 2007.

“I used to think that Orlando was just real carefree,” his wife, Demetra, said in making the 2007 announcement. “But I’m learning so much from him now. He can’t walk into a room and bring on the excitement or bring out his favorite quote — ‘Every day is a holiday!’ — like he used to. But he’s showing that, regardless of what’s going on in your life, if you live from the heart and you have love, joy and peace, there’s nothing greater than living from that place within.”