North Shore-Based Greg's Wingteam Raises $13K For ALS Research

DANVERS, MA – Michele Vivian was already all too familiar with the devastating effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through watching her son, A.C.'s, friendship with Pete Frates.

The two were classmates together at St. John's Prep of Danvers, and A.C. remained close with Frates as Frates went on to play baseball at Boston College, was diagnosed with ALS and staged one of the great awareness and fundraising campaigns of his time with the "Ice Bucket Challenge" before Frates succumbed to the disease in December 2019.

So, she knew well the implications when the disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which attacks the nervous system and progressively diminishes motors skills, was introduced into her own home when her husband, Greg Doran, was diagnosed with ALS in February 2018.

"It's such a devastating diagnosis because there is no cure," Vivian told Patch. "They don't even have a test to give you. They basically rule everything else out. It took us a year to get a final diagnosis.

"It is a very difficult thing to watch someone go through that you love. I do have to say as I'm sitting here trying not to cry that my kids are amazing and my son is very supportive."

Upon getting that diagnosis, the family knew well the challenges ahead, but also knew from the example of Frates that there was much that could be done before Doran's ALS progressed. The family organized "Greg's Wingteam" to raise money for research through The ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter's Step out for ALS: Massachusetts Walk to Defeat ALS.

Last fall, Greg's Wingteam — named after Greg Doran's time with the United States Air Force and career in aviation at and around the Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford before his retirement in August — participated in the fundraising walk on the Endicott College campus in Beverly.

On Oct. 3, given the coronavirus-related restrictions and progression of Doran's condition, a smaller group of Greg's Wingteam headed to Magnolia for a walk that raised more than $13,000 in the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter effort that raised more than $300,000 statewide.

"It's such an emotional day," Vivian said. "The walk day is such an incredible experience. It is so supportive for the person you are walking for or who is in your memory. It is such a touching experience."

While the team helped push Greg along during last year's walk in Beverly, Greg's symptoms have progressed to the point where he is in a motorized wheelchair this year — allowing him to outpace the field if he chose — about one year after Greg and AC played in the Pete Frates Golf Outing.

"As hard as it is, when Greg was diagnosed, he said to me: 'We've had a full life. We've traveled and had children.' He was more sorry about the people (like Frates) where were diagnosed when they were young," Vivian said.

Doran attended the Air Force Academy and moved to Massachusetts to begin work at Hanscom in 1979. He stayed in the area until the disease forced his retirement from Oasis Systems two months ago.

"It was bittersweet," she said. "We didn't intend to retire quite so early."

But Vivian said Doran's co-workers have stuck by him as part of Greg's Wingteam and were a big part of the successful fundraising.

"We have great friends and family members who have not only joined the team but also contributed," she said.

She credits the support of friends and family, along with that of the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter, for providing the type of support that she said she saw A.C. provide Pete Frates during his six-year battle with ALS before his death at 33 years old.

"We all pray that a cure will be found," she said. "But until then, for the day-to-day support for the patients and their families that is provided, I can't tell you what this means.

"You can't do this alone. We are very, very blessed for the support we have."

(Go here for more information on Greg's Wingteam, or to make a donation to the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter on Greg Doran's behalf.)