Rayshell Rolle has always been a daddy's girl, so it's difficult for her to watch the boxing champ, Ray Minus Jr., who is in the grips of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

"It's been difficult watching the different stages of him changing, and the things you have to do ... bathe him, feed him, and change his Depends," said Rolle of her 58-year-old father.

"It's a life-changing experience. He is still the loving dad, but it's hard to see him go off track or go in a different mood."

Initially, depleted muscles in her father's dominant right arm, caught Rolle's attention. They sought physiotherapy for Minus. Then, they noticed muscle depletion in his left arm. Forgetfulness, mimicking dementia or Alzheimer's, followed. Minus played the blame game - blaming other people for what was happening to him. He exhibited signs of anxiousness and edginess, to the extent he would not want to be around people.

He spiraled.

His neck muscles collapsed, which means his head has fallen to his chest.

His speech slurred; Minus' family thought he had a stroke.

All of this transpired over the course of a year and in 2020 in the height of the pandemic, during a time when medical treatment and going to the doctor proved to be difficult.

Minus was officially diagnosed with ALS in October 2022.

ALS, which is often called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the baseball player who was diagnosed with it, often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in a limb, or slurred speech. Eventually, ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe.

Doctors usually don't know why ALS occurs. Some cases are inherited.

There is no cure for this fatal disease.

Rolle said her father's disease is aggressive.

"It's very aggressive. You can rest assured about every month, you would see something transpiring."

When his symptoms first showed, Rolle said she and her family thought it was a side effect of strokes he has had - the first of which was about eight years ago. They also noticed he would black out and attributed it to anemia he was plagued with when he was younger. When he was still employed, she said he would play around with people on the job and would lose his balance when his legs would give way and he would fall, and did not have use of his arms to brace himself. It became a different world she said when he would forget things like leaving work.

His family rallied around him.

"We became overprotective," said Rolle.

"He started to get aggressive, didn't want to be around his grandchildren or around anyone. He was embarrassed and didn't want people to see how he looked."

Today, Minus is in hospital and on a ventilator and has had a feeding tube installed.

The former boxing champ has also been diagnosed with pneumonia.

With ALS, you're prone to more infections and illnesses more frequently than other diseases.

Prognosis

Minus' doctors have recommended that he receive extensive therapy to assist hopefully with gaining him some mobility in his arms.

Spinal surgery has been suggested for his hanging neck, a decision his family is battling with because his body is in a fragile state and Rolle said there is no certainty it would work for the former boxing champ.

She said his doctors have also recommended a medication that cancer patients take that she said may or may not work.

"We really are up against a lot. It's hard," said Rolle.

As Minus' family grapples with his new reality, his daughter said her dad's fans are reaching out expressing concern and offering assistance. And she said her father needs financial assistance because the process will be tedious and expensive moving forward.

In his immediate future, once they can get his breathing stabilized while in hospital, he will need a ventilator for home use. He will be bedridden and need a hospital bed, and will be unable to move with the tubes he will have inserted; including a feeding tube. He will also need around-the-clock care, which is expensive.

Rolle said the family is in discussion about pursuing crowdfunding to assist them with Minus' medical expenses. Until that is done, anyone wanting to assist can reach Rolle at 468-8916, or Facebook at Rayshell Minus-Rolle or email rayshellrolle86@gmail.com.

With little awareness of ALS, and in the face of no support group, Rolle said they would like to start one which would allow people to find information on the disease, and avail themselves of therapists and people who can help medically and physically. They expect to name the foundation in Minus' honor – Ray of Hope foundation, because it's something he likes to say.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of ALS vary greatly from person to person, depending on which neurons are affected, according to mayoclinic.org. It generally begins with muscle weakness that spreads and gets worse over time. Signs and symptoms may include difficulty walking or doing normal daily activities; tripping and falling; weakness in the legs, feet or ankles; hand weakness or clumsiness; slurred speech or trouble swallowing; muscle cramps and twitching in the arms, shoulders and tongue; inappropriate crying, laughing or yawning; and cognitive and behavioral changes.

Like in Minus' case, ALS often starts in the hands, feet or limbs, then spreads to other parts of your body. As the disease advances and nerve cells are destroyed, the muscles get weaker. This eventually affects chewing, swallowing, speaking and breathing.

There's generally no pain in the early stages of ALS, and pain is uncommon in the later stages. ALS doesn't usually affect the bladder control or their senses.

Causes

ALS affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movements such as walking and talking (motor neurons). ALS causes the motor neurons to gradually deteriorate, then die.

Motor neurons extend from the brain to the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body. When motor neurons are damaged, they stop sending messages to the muscles, so the muscles can't function.

ALS is inherited in five to 10 percent of people. For the rest, the cause isn't known.

According to mayoclinic.org, researchers continue to study possible causes of ALS and most theories center on a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors.

Established risk factors for ALS include heredity, age, sex, and genetics.

Heredity: Five to 10 percent of the people with ALS inherited it (familial ALS). In most people with familial ALS, their children have a 50/50 chance of developing the disease.

Age: ALS risk increases with age, and is most common between the ages of 40 and the mid-60s.

Sex: Before the age of 65, slightly more men than women develop ALS. This sex difference disappears after age 70.

Genetics: Some studies examining the entire human genome found many similarities in the genetic variations of people with familial ALS and some people with non-inherited ALS. These genetic variations may make people more susceptible to ALS.

Environmental factors such as smoking, environmental toxin exposure and military service may trigger ALS.

As the disease progresses, ALS complications such as breathing problems, speaking problems, eating problems and dementia arise.

The most common cause of death for people with ALS is respiratory failure. On average, death occurs within three to five years after symptoms begin. However, some people with ALS live 10 or more years, according to mayoclinic.org.

Minus' ex-wife Michelle Munnings-Minus recently spoke about the former boxing champ's fight to South East Rotarians.

She spoke to them not just about Minus' accomplishments in the ring, but of him having helped countless youth who he took off the streets and enrolled in his Champion Boxing Club. Munnings-Minus, who worked with her ex throughout his career, said it was her former husband's love to train, coach, and teach the youngsters sporting skills and life disciplines.

Munnings-Minus' company FirstClass Promotions recently staged a female professional world title match in The Bahamas. After bills were paid, funds raised from the event go toward helping to defray Minus' medical expenses.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian