Student to hike for fund-raiser

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

From March to July, Purdue graduate Leah Ross will hike the entire Appalachian Trail. her hike will mark the three-year anniversary of her sister’s sickness and death after developing lupus.

Leah graduated in December with a degree in secondary education and won’t start teaching until August, so the blonde 22-year-old decided to raise money to combat lupus and other diseases categorized as autoimmune diseases.

In preparation for her hike, Leah will climb to the rocky summit of Springer Mountain in northern Georgia, looking ahead at the months of hiking on the Appalachian Trail and the $50,000 she hopes to raise to help fight autoimmune diseases.

According to the Appalachian Trail Conference in Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., Leah is one of about 3,000 people who attempt to hike all of the 2,168 miles of historic trail every year; about 425 succeed.

Hoping to be one of those who succeed, Leah’s preparing five days a week. Leah, the assistant girls basketball coach at West Lafayette High, lifts weights for an hour and works out for two, wearing a 40-pound backpack, at Newtone Health and Fitness Center, which donated her membership.

She’s not worried about finding the motivation.

"Knowing that I am able to even do this, that’s amazing," she said. "Knowing that there are people who can’t even get out of bed, seeing what my sister went through, makes me appreciate what my body is capable of doing. It makes you understand the gift God’s given you in good health."

Heidi Ross died of lupus in 1998 at age 17 after fighting the disease from late February to July 25.

"I think about her everyday," Leah said. "Those were the worst months of my life. This is my chance to reclaim those and turn my pain into something positive."

Leah said she’s not angry her sister died, because now she believes her sister is in a better place. She is upset, however, because doctor after doctor failed to alleviate Heidi’s suffering without causing more.

Leah said Heidi, hurting and restless because of the drugs, used to pray at night in the silent darkness of her bedroom. As the disease caused her immune system to attack her own body, Heidi was put on many medications, making her skin thin, her eyes weak and her body bloated.

"She used to not be able to get out of bed in the morning," Leah said. "My mom and I had to pick up her legs and move them for her and then she started to lose her hair."

The Rosses took Heidi to several hospitals, spending "countless hours researching" Heidi’s disease, only to find that there was little research on autoimmune diseases and that lupus has no known cures or causes.

"We took her to all the specialists, and it was like, ‘Pump her full of drugs and see what happens,’" Leah said. "We took her to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and we thought about going to the Bahamas to participate in an experimental stem-cell treatment, but she got so sick that we thought the stress of the travel would kill her."

Frustrated with her sister’s death and her family’s sadness, Leah decided to hike the trail to raise money. She plans to hike with supporters and others she meets along the way.

Autoimmune diseases such as lupus primarily occur in women, affecting one in five Americans. Other prevalent autoimmune diseases are rheumatoid arthritis, Crone’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

Autoimmune diseases are not high-profiled or well-funded. According to the to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, lupus receives $33 million a year while AIDS receives $833 million.

Several fraternities and sororities on campus have expressed interest in raising funds to donate to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association to help fund research. Leah is also looking for gear donations.

She has contacted "every major gear company" asking them to donate the boots, sleeping bag, tent, water filters, small gas stove and other necessities she’ll need to make it over the rocky hills, muddy bogs and dry stretches.

She will carry pamphlets about her crusade and distribute them to fellow hikers and to the people they encounter in cities when they take breaks to meet with media along the way.

Leah will also send press kits to media outlets along the East Coast so she and the supporters hiking with her can spread the word. Leah said she’s been contacted by more than 100 people who want to hike with her or meet her on the trail to raise money.

"I know it’s not going to be beautiful the whole time and people get sick of walking through the Big Green Tunnel, as the trail is called, but since my sister passed away, I really do think of every day as a gift," Leah said. "When I’m hiking or jogging on campus, I really do stop and smell people’s flowers and appreciate what I have."

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Features editor:
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