Woonsocket Mom with MS Inspires Cyclist Son to Be a Top Fundraiser

When Al Lessard of Walpole, Mass., first told his mother he was going to cycle 150 miles over two days to help raise money for people with multiple sclerosis back in 2011, her reaction may not have been what he’d expected.

“She told me I was crazy,” he said of Linda Lessard, who has MS and lives in Woonsocket, R.I. “She thinks 150 miles is very far and she’s right, it is. But she knows I like to push things.”

At age 42, Lessard is an avid cyclist, clocking 200 miles during Bike MS weekends when 150 miles is the goal. An active soccer and hockey player and coach with three sons, he’s cycled in Bike MS: Ride the Rhode, the largest fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Rhode Island, for the past four years. He also pushes the fundraising.

“I ask everyone I possibly know. I’m not shy and I spend a lot of time on the (athletic) field,” he said of raising money for the June 20-21, 2015 event that will start in Narragansett and end at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. “I explain this is what I do and this is why and I am shocked how many times people I barely know will contribute.”

A top individual event fundraiser, Lessard, who works as a trial specialist at a Boston law firm, has raised about $7,000 every year for Bike MS: Ride the Rhode. His efforts are inspired by his mother, who suffered from various nerve problems and a host of MS symptom including vision loss for nearly a decade before being diagnosed with MS in 2009. Lessard said his mother has good days and bad days and sometimes walks with a cane. She no longer drives at night.

“It was frustrating for her,” he said, noting that by the time she started getting treatment for the relapsing remitting form of MS, her condition had worsened and she was in the progressive stage of the disease. “It wouldn’t have (progressed so far) if someone had realized it earlier.”

He calls his mother a tremendous woman and says she is wonderful with the three young sons he has with his wife Natasha. The boys can’t wait until they are old enough to cycle in Bike MS: Ride the Rhode with their father. They already cycle 15-to-20-mile stretches without a problem.

Lessard enjoys the sense of community at the popular bike event and how supportive people are of each other and of people with MS. Every year, his mother goes to the finish line to greet him when he rides in. She may be struggling with her MS during the weeks before Bike MS: Ride the Rhode but he said she treasures her time at the event and looks forward to it.

“The happiest I see her is leading up to Bike MS when she realizes how many people are really pushing for her,” he said.

Participation in 2015 Bike MS rides helps people in Rhode Island with multiple sclerosis to live their best lives through MS education, emotional support, public policy advocacy, and direct services, in addition to funding cutting-edge research and treatments to stop disease progression, restore lost function, and end MS forever.

In its 28th year, Bike MS: Ride the Rhode will have its dedicated cyclists riding 150 miles on winding country roads and along the scenic coast of Rhode Island over two days. The start/finish line is at Narragansett Pier School, 235 South Pier Road, in Narragansett. After leaving Narragansett the morning of Saturday, June 20, cyclists will travel a 75-mile route to the University of Rhode Island in Kingston where they will enjoy the Harpoon Beer Garden, a BBQ, massages, and evening dinner and entertainment. They will spend the night at URI.

The next morning, they will depart URI’s campus and cycle another 75 miles and celebrate at the finish line in Narragansett. Cyclists also have the option to ride 100 miles the first day or to ride only on Saturday. The fundraising minimum is $300. To volunteer or register for Bike MS: Ride the Rhode, visit www.bikeMSrhodeisland.org. And visit us on Facebook at Bike MS: Ride the Rhode.