Today's Hero: Ben Byer

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Team 2175 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   About Ben Byer Ben Byer was born in Chicago in 1971.  He was diagnosed with ALS in 2002.  During the 31 years between these two occasions he has done many things, mostly legal.  After graduating from Evanston Township High School he studied Journalism at Indiana University and Film Theory at The University of Paris where he made short films on 8mm.  A job as a translator at the Cannes Film Festival led him to Hollywood where he worked for a producer of B-movies.  Returning to Chicago he took up acting and has since performed on many of that city's notable stages including Steppenwolf Theatre, Organic Theatre, Trap Door Theatre, European Repertory Company, Circle Theatre, Café Voltaire and the Staddschowburg Theatre in Amsterdam.  Like all struggling actors he left for Los Angeles and found himself selling beef out of the back of a truck.  This unsavory experience inspired him to write his first play, Take it Deep, which was produced to much success shortly before being diagnosed with a fatal neurodegenerative disease.  Unable to write or perform, Ben turned his attention towards film directing, a vocation more suited to the disabled.  In 2003 he co-founded ALS Film Fund with his sister Rebeccah Rush to produce original works of art, whether film, theatre, sculpture or other intended to create positive change for ALS sufferers around the world.  Ben Byer died of ALS on July 3, 2008.  Click Here to access the Indestructible Homepage & Film Trailer About the Film Diagnosed with ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, filmmaker Ben Byer starts documenting his life on camera. What begins as a series of video diaries grows into an epic journey spanning three years and six countries as he scours the globe looking for answers - and a cure.  A cinematic adventure filled with extraordinary characters, breathtaking landscapes and abundant humor, Indestructible is beautifully shot by Academy Award™ nominee Roko Belic (Genghis Blues).  In his first feature film, Byer takes us on a visually stunning global quest to survive as he begins to understand the power of the human condition.The Film Makers        Director's Statement “In September of 2002, at 31 years of age, I was diagnosed with ALS, a neuro-degenerative disease that kills 90% of its victims within five years. At the time, I was working as a playwright and actor in Chicago, running a painting company and changing my son’s diapers. Nine months later I began to make a documentary film chronicling my new life, not one I had chosen and unlike anything I ever could have imagined. Traveling by myself and then with a small crew we filmed the isolated world of ALS; interviewing patients and their families, medical professionals, scientists, religious figures and almost anyone we could find. I wanted to know (perhaps naively), “What does it all mean?” Indestructible is an attempt to understand and accept the reality of a mysterious and deadly disease that has brought science to its knees, an illness that is a paradigm for life’s ultimate challenges. My personal story in the film, and that of every ALS patient, follows this frightening path into an uncertain future. To show the broad and difficult landscape of medicine for ALS, or lack thereof, we have documented mainstream approaches, controversial stem cell surgeries, Chinese herbal treatments, vitamin supplements, vibrating beds, Yoga, and almost anything that might stop the progression of this horrific killer. My initial purpose in making this film was to share the extraordinary moments, both dark and light, of a life with ALS, and there are many. I now believe Indestructible will be a catalyst, and mark a turning point for the millions who have and will suffer the wrath of this elusive beast, bringing us one step closer to what every sick person wants - a cure. Indestructible has at times provided answers to my questions, if only momentarily, and they are no substitute for my health. In the meantime, I will continue to search. When we unlock the secrets of ALS we will better understand not only neuro-degeneration, but also aging, environment, psychology, spirituality, and what it truly means to be both alive and facing mortality every day.” -BenByer March 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consider donating $1 to 2175 for ALS today. Funds go to benefit the DC/VA/MD Chapter of the ALS Association. Thank you! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------