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They say that ALS strikes people who have similar qualities: athletic, bright,
dynamic, and likable. Toni Diamond, the founder and soul behind Wings of Hope,
certainly fits that profile.
Raised in the countryside of small-town Massachusetts, Toni found her way to
become a world traveler. Leaving Southwick behind, she embarked on a 20-plus
year career as a Flight Attendant with United Airlines. Generous and loving
with her family and friends, excellent at her job, compassionate with her
coworkers and customers, Toni helped make people feel that much better for
having spent time with her.
Along the way, Toni met Warren Schiffer, also a Flight Attendant with United
Airlines, who was raised in the urban sand and surf of Rockaway Beach, New York,
bringing city and country together. Their love began with a walk in the
countryside and a first date at a sushi bar, both taking place in the exotic
locale of Japan. Marriage came soon after, living in a 100 year old house in
Rockaway, and then a move to a new farmhouse colonial in Gaylordsville,
Connecticut. Life was good. Toni and Warren continued flying, often together,
and most often, to Japan.
It was on a layover in Japan, in the fall of 2000, that everything changed.
Toni lost the control of her left foot during a walk she and Warren were taking.
This frightening symptom subsided a few hours later, only to return
permanently two months later. After visiting many doctors and enduring multiple
invasive tests, Toni was diagnosed with ALS by Dr. Hiroshi Mitsumoto, Director
of the Eleanor & Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center at Columbia University. Devastated,
but not defeated, Toni and Warren sought information, advice, and allies as they
began their fight against this vicious disease. Even as the disease was progressing rapidly in Toni,
with paralysis spreading, she decided not to give up
and let ALS take over her spirit. Toni made the
decision not to become a victim of this horrible
disease, but a champion for its elimination, launching
a fundraising drive to fund research to find
treatments and a cure for ALS.
But how to launch a fundraising drive? Toni and Warren decided that instead of
creating a new organization, they would partner with an existing organization
experienced in fundraising and one that had demonstrated a history of commitment
to the fight against ALS. Most importantly, however, they wanted a partner that
would allow them to direct the funds raised to the researchers at The Eleanor
and Lou Gehrig ALS Center at Columbia and at the Center for ALS Research at
Johns Hopkins (where Toni had also been seen and impressed by Dr. Jeffrey
Rothstein). They found that partner in the New York City District Office of the Muscular
Dystrophy Association, and Wings of Hope (renamed MDA's Wings Over Wall Street®) was born.
They asked Warren's
brother, Larry Schiffer, a partner with the international law firm of LeBoeuf,
Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P., and their friend Scott Horak, a partner in R& J
Construction, to co-chair the event while Warren cared for Toni.
It was during the early stages of planning for Wings of Hope that, in March
2001, Toni developed serious trouble breathing. ALS had affected her diaphragm
and, at age 42, she had to choose between dying or having a machine breathe for
her for the rest of her life. Toni chose life, went on a ventilator, and lived
the next six months at New England Sinai Hospital in a vent ward, with Warren
living and sleeping there as well, rarely leaving her side.
Before her hospitalization, Toni and Warren had been forced to sell their
Connecticut home due to the rapid progression of the disease and Toni's
inability to negotiate multiple levels and stairs in the house. Invited by her
family, they moved in with Toni's brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, Wayne,
Vicki, and Nigel Diamond, on Cape Cod, intending to find a one level house
nearby. Now, living on a ventilator, Toni could not come home unless she had a
place to live where the vent equipment, a hospital bed, and other necessaries
could be housed. Unable to find a home of their own and not wanting to spend
the rest of her life in a hospital, construction started in Wayne and Vicki's
basement on a handicapped accessible apartment.
By the time the apartment was ready for Toni in September 2001, she was unable
to talk and had lost all movement in her legs and arms. Toni had only been out
of the hospital for a very short time, still making the adjustments to being
home, when a decision had to be made about attending the fundraiser. Showing
extraordinary courage, Toni told Warren that she definitely wanted to go, and
was brought to New York by air ambulance for Wings of Hope on November 8, 2001,
and was able to stay at the event for hours. Warren brought Toni up on the
stage where she watched her video, which had been shown in New York and Boston
for the MDA Labor Day Telethon, and received the first Spirit Award given out at
Wings of Hope. She also watched as Dr. Mitsumoto presented to Dr. Jeffrey
Rothstein (who was represented by a colleague) the first annual Diamond Award,
named for her.
Today, Toni has lost the ability to speak and move, except for slight movement of her eyes.
Yet, despite the overwhelming difficulties she faces on a daily basis, she continues to make
those around her feel that much better for having spent time with her. Toni enjoys periodic
visits from friends and family, especially her nephew Nigel, listening to audio books, watching
movies and TV, and even going out , periodically, in her motorized wheel chair. With great
enthusiasm, she continues to follow the progress of MDA's Wings Over Wall StreetTM and has
demonstrated her heroic commitment to the cause by traveling by air ambulance with Warren to attend the 2002
and 2003 events. Her ideas, vision, determination, and inspiration continue to drive Warren,
and continue to fuel the engine of MDA's Wings Over Wall Street®.
It is for Toni and all
the other victims of ALS that MDA's Wings Over Wall Street® strives to fund research to find
treatments and a cure for ALS.
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