Sending Love on Mother’s Day to ALS Patients

Soochow University’s Health and Counseling Center, together with Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association, helped celebrate Mother’s Day in advance for the patients suffering from ALS and their families at the Taipei City Hospital on May 6^th. Professor Guang-Lin Peng, Chair of Department of Music, and Prof. Xin-Hui Shen, from Department of Chinese Literature, led a group of their students to the patients’ wards, invoked blessings on them, cheered them up with songs and melodies, and encouraged them to stay positive toward life.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects one’s ability to swallow, breathe, and move. In serious cases, the patients have to communicate with others through the help of phonetic plates or ey-ball movements. Da-Mou Chen, Chairman of the Board of the Association, having suffered from ALS for many years and had recently done a tracheostomy surgery, expressed his gratitude to all those that had helped him. His wife, Ying Qu, talking about their long journey of struggles, said that love is the only thing that motivated them to go on. She also invited all visitors to read the poem Professor Xing-Hui Shen wrote. The poem tells how an ALS patient sincerely wishes others to understand the sufferings of ALS patients who cannot control their behaviors.

In the following performances, Bo-Hong Shen, a social worker of Health and Counseling Center, and Wen-Qian Lou, a junior student from English Department, sang three songs to encourage the patients that the sun would always rise after darkness. The Department of Music offered string quartet, oboe, and vocal performances. Professorr Guang-Lin Peng, Chair of Department of Music, also sang a song “the Moon Represents My Heart,” making the atmosphere sweet and warm. Afterwards, students from Department of Chinese Literature gave the patients greeting cards to comfort them.

Although ALS patients cannot control their own bodies at will, their minds and thoughts can fly freely. They have shown incredible will to survive and the courage in adversity, which cannot be compared to any normal person.