Saling and EHS Talk About ALS and the ‘Walk for Living’ on September 27th

As Steve Saling sat in his wheelchair on the stage at Everett High School (EHS) earlier this month, his eyes darted back and forth to the rims of his glasses, where a special computer program registered the words he wanted to choose and then the computer read the sentence aloud to those gathered to hear him speak.
“I never imagined I would be in a nursing home when I was only in my 40s, but no one ever thinks disability will strike them,” said Saling to the students in the Allied Health Academy. “Because of the amazing ice bucket challenge last summer, everyone knows about ALS, which is what I have.”
Saling is the designer and best advocate for the Leonard Florence Center for Living (LFCFL) on Chelsea’s Admiral’s Hill, and he and several of the students under teacher Sue Lomas have become well acquainted with Saling. They’ve also become educated on the new, state-of-the-art home that he helped to design as ALS began to get a stronger and stronger grip on his life and eventually bound him to a wheelchair.
Several of the students have participated in the annual ‘Walk for Living’ and Lomas will be honored at the walk this year for spearheading a new relationship between EHS and the LFCFL. In large part, the relationship has been mutually beneficial as the students in the Allied Health have been amazed at what Saling has accomplished.