One voice can ignite change, but together, we create a movement — lifting each other up, pushing forward and making the impossible possible.
My journey with Parkinson’s disease began long before I ever heard the words, “You have Parkinson’s.” For years, I lived in uncertainty — unexplained symptoms, countless appointments, tests that led nowhere, and a growing sense inside me that something was wrong. In 2012, after a DaTscan confirmed what I’d quietly feared, I finally had an answer. It was life-changing, frightening, and oddly a relief. At least now I knew what I was fighting.
From the very beginning, I made one promise to myself:
Parkinson’s would not silence me — it would give me purpose.
I needed answers. I wanted to understand what caused my disease and how to change the future for myself and for others. This led me straight to The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). I enrolled in 2012, contributing data and samples year after year. I believed deeply in research, and in 2023, when the Foundation announced the breakthrough discovery of the alpha-synuclein biomarker, I felt something profound — pride. Hope. Validation. It meant our contributions mattered. That patients built this progress.
As my Parkinson’s progressed, I also faced challenges I never expected — including undergoing two rounds of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). The first surgery in 2020 gave me back moments Parkinson’s had stolen. The second, in 2023, was a revision that again restored movement, steadiness, and the belief that science and community can change lives.
But research alone wasn’t enough for me. I needed community. I needed action. In 2016, surrounded by family and friends who believed in my mission, I founded Team Fox Detroit — at first a humble grassroots effort, but one fueled by heart, faith, and determination. What began around my kitchen table quickly grew, we created research salons, golf outings, bowling events, raffles, and our annual gala — a celebration of hope, community, and unstoppable momentum.
Over the last 9 years, Team Fox Detroit has raised over $1.3 million for Parkinson’s research — with 100% of proceeds donated directly to the Foundation. But fundraising was never just about money for me. It was — and still is — about connection.
Parkinson’s can make people feel invisible. Isolated. Misunderstood. My mission has always been to create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported. Through roundtable discussions, community events, and even poolside chats, I’ve watched strangers become friends and families find hope again. That is the true impact.
Parkinson’s is part of my story, but it is not the end of it. My family is my strength, my motivation, and my reminder that the future we’re fighting for matters. I fight so that one day, my children and yours won’t have to.
This journey is about hope. It’s about action. It’s about refusing to let fear of tomorrow rob us of today.
And it’s about believing — truly believing — that together, we can change the ending.