Awareness and Advocacy Reunites an ALS Family

After over three years apart, a California family facing ALS  has been reunited, thanks to the efforts of ABC Bay Area’s Michael Finney/On Your Side and Congressman Jimmy Panetta. 

Lou Infeld, who is living with ALS, and his wife, Gale, reside in San Jose and are served by ALS Golden West. Their son, Loren, lives in Thailand with his wife, Ariya, and their daughter Lilly. Due to the travel constraints of the pandemic, the Thai-American couple was denied a travel visa numerous times, and tried on their own for more than three years but to no avail. 

It was when Gale contacted ABC 7 and Congressman Panetta that everything changed. 

With their help, they applied for a special visa to allow them to travel to the US for humanitarian purposes. Within four months of submitting the request, they learned their application was reviewed, a process that normally takes up to 16 months, and they were approved.  

The family is now back together again in San Jose, California. “We’re so happy we’re here now…” said Loren Infeld. “But we lost years that as a family, we could have been together.”

Our deepest gratitude to everyone who helped to make this happen.