The 16th annual Ride for Life made its way through Riverhead once again as Chris Pendergast and over 125 McGann Mercy and Riverhead High students made a stop off at Riverhead Town Hall Monday morning.
The entire Mercy middle school class was on hand, as well as Supervisor Sean Walter and Councilman Jim Wooten, as Pendergast and his wife Christine - who celebrate their 40th anniversary this year - spoke to the crowd.
Pendergast, a 1966 Mercy alum, has battled ALS for close to 20 years. After being diagnosed in 1993, he was told by doctors at the time that he had two to three years to live.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. These nerve cells control voluntary movements. As the disease progresses, patients lose their ability to move their arms, their legs or even to breathe.
In 1998, Pendergast founded Ride for Life, riding his electric wheelchair from Yankee Stadium to Washington D.C. over the course of 16 days in order to raise awareness of ALS. The ride resulted not only in awareness of the disease but also raised over $30,000 in donations.
"Life is good. Life is what you make it," Christine said on Monday. "And you have made our life great today."
Click here to read a profile on Pendergast written in 2011.
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