He was diagnosed with ALS. Then they changed the face of medical advocacy

On a recent crisp June night, as the Chicago Cubs prepare to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, fans dressed in blue pack Wrigley Stadium’s famous bleachers.

Sitting in his wheelchair, 42-year-old Brian Wallach looks out over the park, rooting for a very particular outcome that has nothing to do with baseball.

He has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named for the baseball legend once dubbed the “iron horse” because of his durability, before the disease took his life.