Youngstown Walk to End ALS draws 500 to Eastwood Field

Staff report

NILES

Judging by the bright smile on her face, the warmth of her handshake, and her genuinely positive spirit, you'd never know that Donna Marciano is essentially living out a terribly undeserved death sentence.

Diagnosed in 2012 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, the former Struthers High School guidance counselor knows it's just a matter of time. Still, she's determined to stay positive and to fight as hard as a guy named Rocky - who just happens to have the same last name as hers.

"I'm not angry," the 64-year-old Struthers woman said. "I was never angry, and I was never whiny. I look around and I see so many people out there with disabilities. None of those negative things do any good."

Marciano was one of some 500 people at Eastwood Field on Sunday morning for the 10th annual Youngstown Walk to End ALS, which is the ALS Association's signature fund-raising event.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com