Latest news with #Kary
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Roanoke man living with ALS is on a mission to help others
ROANOKE, VA (WFXR) — A Roanoke man living with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is working to spread awareness and understanding about the disease, and make it livable for everyone until a cure can be found. 'I don't think you can ever be ready for a medical change that totally alters your trajectory in life,' said Mark Kary, who is living with ALS. ALS is a neurotmesuclar disease where the brain stops communicating with the muscles. For some, a person might lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, breathe, and it can sometimes be fatal. 'If I want to go into my emails, I can scroll down with my nose,' shared Kary. Mark Kary is 75 years old and is living with ALS. He said that right around the time of his retirement, he started to notice some weakness in his left arm. 'My brother, who was a doctor, found it, and that was about 12 years ago, which is a real anomaly time-wise. And I wasn't diagnosed until about five years ago,' said Kary. Mark's version of ALS is extremely rare. 'Only affected thus far my arms, hands, and shoulders, which have atrophied or, as I like to say, my arms are for decoration only,' shared Kary. Even with the diagnosis, the disease hasn't taken away his appetite for life. Every day the sun comes up is a beautiful day. One of the things I say is, how I get things done is with the hands of others.' Mark Kary His arms, hands, and shoulders might not work as well as they used to, but that doesn't stop him; he said he just had to adapt. 'Think about personal hygiene, anything you can do with your hands. I can't do,' shared Kary. 'I can still brush my teeth with an electric toothbrush, but that does take, you know, a four-step process.' I think you have to have a mission in life, no matter how brief.' Mark Kary 'For most people who have ALS, they don't have the timeframe that I have been blessed with,' shared Kary. And with the time Mark does have, he has created the ALS Red Ball Express. It's a visual and digital aid that you may have spotted on the back of cars. 'I want people to walk over and point their phone at it and get a connection to information,' said Kary. Whether it's connecting people with information or raising funds for the ALS Association, Mark is on a mission to ensure there is a visual representation of ALS on the roads in Roanoke every day of the year. Mark's story doesn't end, He's also been busy advocting for disabled people with adaptive access in Roanoke. A few years ago, he spoke with the City Manager, and helped put in place the Star City's first 'open access barrier-free parking' in downtown. Those are parking spaces specially set aside for disabled drivers, so they can park in timed spaces, for up to 10 hours. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Meet the rising Ohio State star, who is named after Karrie Webb, making her Augusta debut
AI-assisted summary Kary Hollenbaugh, ranked 22nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is competing in her first Augusta National Women's Amateur. She first attended the ANWA as a spectator in 2019 when Jennifer Kupcho won. EVANS, Ga. — About 10 days before the start of the Augusta National Women's Amateur, LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb sent Kary Hollenbaugh a video message. Before offering her best wishes for the week, Webb dryly apologized for being the inspiration of a name that will be mispronounced for the rest of her life. Every word of the video was a thrill, of course, for the petite Hollenbaugh, who has been on a tear recently in college golf and risen to No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. 'I've never been to an LPGA event actually,' said Hollenbaugh, 'but I've watched it on TV, reruns of old major championships.' The spelling of Kary's name comes from the combination of her great grandpa Karl and her grandpa Gary. Kary's father, Paul, played college golf at Eastern Michigan and is director of golf at New Albany Country Club in Ohio. He's also obviously a big Karrie Webb fan. Kary Hollenbaugh opened with a tidy 2-under 70 on Wednesday in her ANWA debut to trail leader Megha Ganne by seven strokes. While it's her first time competing, Hollenbaugh originally came to the event as a 14-year-old in 2019, when she watched Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi duel down the stretch at Augusta National. 'One of our really good friends, he lives in Augusta, so he hooked us up with the tickets,' said Kary. 'Then we actually scalped a ticket on the street because my dad thought that he had one, but he didn't.' Kary comes into this week straight off a victory over the weekend at the Clemson Invitational. In February, she won the Therese Hession Regional Challenge and Spartan Sun Coast Invitational. 'I've always wanted to be a Buckeye,' said Kary, who chose Ohio State over Michigan even without the promise of a full scholarship her first year. The 20-year-old called it the best decision of her life. OSU head coach Lisa Strom said pound-for-pound, Kary is one of the longest hitters in the game, carrying it around 235 yards. Strom puts her star player at around 5-foot-2 in stature. 'She's always been underestimated,' said Strom, 'but I think she kind of carries that as a chip on her shoulder, 'Hey, watch this.' ' Therese Hession led the Buckeye program for nearly three decades, and Kary was her final recruit. The legendary coach gets emotional talking about Kary's growth. 'She's this little dynamo,' said Hession of what she saw in Kary as a teen. 'She loves to win, and she hates to lose.' In college, Kary has become more disciplined in her course management and more even-keel with her emotions. Hession said she came to the program with strong fundamentals thanks to the tutelage of her father. After Hession retired in 2022, she caddied for Kary at several events over the summer and noted that her speed control on the greens gave her gray hair. After the putting improved, Hession told her last year that if she worked on her chipping, she'd be a first-team All-American in 2025. On the eve of the ANWA, Hession noted that Kary had to walk off the course after the eighth hole of her practice round with a stiff neck. Her father called Hession before she got on her flight and gave it a 20 percent chance that his daughter would play. 'I said, she's so tough, I'm coming anyway,' said Hession. 'Over her dead body would she not play.'
