SAN ANTONIO – ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a terminal diagnosis that affects veterans twice as much as the general population, and nobody knows why.
The disease has no cure, and the average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years.
When a local veteran was diagnosed with ALS, he and his friends decided to fight in more ways than one.
For 28-year Air Force veteran Rick Lipsey, his latest mission started in September of 2024 while he was on his way to work.
“I couldn’t lift up my briefcase with my left hand to put it in the car,” Lipsey said.
After a long series of tests, he was diagnosed with ALS in March 2025.
“In a period of 11 months since my diagnosis, I’m nearly completely paralyzed from the neck down and on a ventilator 24/7,” Lipsey said. “The larger challenge is the care burden that it places on my family.”
While learning about his diagnosis, Lipsey found out that veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS, and even higher rates specifically in the U.S. Air Force.
“A 2019 study by the Academy of Military Surgeons found that Air Force members get the disease more often than any other service. That’s useful information to have. But, again, we don’t know why,” Lipsey said.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has even recognized ALS as a service-connected disease since 2008. However, no one can explain the connection.
“There are a lot of theories. Some have proposed it’s exposure to chemicals. It might be exposure to jet fuel. It could be something about the way military people are wired. Military and professional athletes both get ALS at a higher rate than the general population,” Lipsey said.
The statistics didn’t sit well with him, so he asked for help.
“One of my good friends, Chris Cook, asked me, ‘Rick, what can we do to help?’ And I told him, ‘Chris, we need to do something for other veterans who have this disease,’” Lipsey said.
“We served in San Antonio and in the Air Force together. I respect him like a brother,” said Air Force veteran Chris Cook about Lipsey.
Cook joined Lipsey’s cause and recently helped create the South Texas ALS Veterans Coalition with several specific goals.
“It is information and education. It is research. It’s advocacy for the veteran,” Cook said.
The coalition meets once a month at Velocity TX. It has already created a support group for ALS patients and raised thousands for research into the connection between veterans and ALS. However, they say much more research money is needed.
“Today, there are only a couple of medications that can treat ALS in a very limited way. We’re not addressing fundamental causes yet. The good news is there’s a number of promising clinical trials that are going on. And, of course, the introduction of artificial intelligence to scour databases to help us learn more,” Lipsey said.
“They’ll spend about $310 million this year in research focused on ALS. That’s good. The veteran-focused part — that’s only about $40 million out of $310 million. If veterans are being diagnosed at twice the rate, we ought to double that or more,” Cook said.
While Lipsey knows those future treatments may not be able to help him in time, in true military form, his focus is on serving the greater good.
“It does bring me a lot of satisfaction to know that this group may improve the odds for the next veteran who gets ALS,” Lipsey said.
Through it all, Lipsey remains grateful for his loving family and a life he calls the American Dream.
He wants people to learn the signs of ALS, so they can get to a doctor and have more time to prepare with their family. Those symptoms include muscle twitching, muscle cramps, slurring, or drooling.
Anyone who wants to learn more about the new coalition can find them on Facebook or reach out to Cook at 210-445-2560 or wccook@gvtc.com.
