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"Backwoods Bash" will help Maine woman disabled by Alpha-1 lung disease
Herald Gazette
UNION, Maine — Valarie Hale has been humbled, but she is getting by with a little help from her friends.
In fact a lot of help, if the upcoming “Backwoods Bash” is any indication.
From left, organizers Kathy Lunt, Valarie Hale, Melinda LeBlanc and Paul Brooks
Hale, who in the past has worked two or three jobs at a time and is the mother of three children and four stepchildren, now finds even the simplest of tasks, such as household chores, extremely difficult.
Hale has emphysema caused by a genetic condition called Alpha-1 Antitrypsine Deficiency.
“Your cold is my pneumonia,” Hale said. “I try to stay as healthy as I can with good environments, great friends and great family.”
She was diagnosed with the disease in 1987, but was asymptomatic until about seven years ago. Hale now has only 27 percent lung function. She is the second person in her family to have Alpha-1. Her older sister Viki Ausplund of Tenants Harbor had a double lung transplant in 2002.
“Stick a straw in your mouth, plug your nose and work a day like that,” Hale said, describing what it’s like to live with Alpha-1.
Hale has been working with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and is eligible for a lung transplant, but is currently on the inactive list because she is trying to get accepted into two research studies.
Meanwhile, a group of Hale’s friends have organized a “Backwoods Bash” featuring seven bands and a stand-up comic to entertain, as a fundraiser to help pay for her medical and other expenses.
The bash is set for all day Saturday, Oct. 15.
