Daughter raises tens of thousands to find cure for Parkinson's

April 11, 2016

SOUTH GLENS FALLS | Parkinson’s disease sometimes prevents Donna Shempp from moving. But it has shown her how far people are willing to go on her behalf.

The Moreau woman was diagnosed with the disease, which attacks the central nervous system and affects movement, in October 2010.

In the six years since, her daughter, Megan Pliscofsky of South Glens Falls, started Team Fox Adirondacks, a local arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research; has run half and full marathons; has organized numerous fundraisers, including the Foxtrot, an annual 5K; and has raised more than $100,000.

“It has just kind of grown into something,” Pliscofsky said.

Slow onset

Shempp taught aerobics for 25 years, so when she first started to walk with a limp, she thought an old injury was flaring up.

At an outdoor concert, a friend greeted her with a hug and Shempp lost her balance and fell into her acquaintance. She began to worry.

“I also lost my sense of smell but didn’t connect that,” she said. “My handwriting had begun to get small and cramped and I thought maybe I was just in a hurry.”

Shempp went to a doctor, looking for answers. One doctor referred her to another, who gave her orthotics for her shoes and sent her to physical therapy.

After a year, she wasn’t getting better, so she underwent surgery on her foot.

After the surgery, she was still walking on the sides of her feet and started to stoop over. People who didn’t see her frequently noticed she often looked like she was in a trance.

“There were things other people were noticing that I didn’t notice and that my husband didn’t notice,” she said.

As she was referred to another doctor, she started typing her symptoms into web searches and came up with Parkinson’s.

Devoted team

Once Shempp was diagnosed, Pliscofsky jumped online to learn more.

“I Googled it and, of course, the Michael J. Fox Foundation is leading the way in research and fundraising and awareness,” Pliscofsky said.

So she went to work for Team Fox, the foundation’s fundraising branch.

She signed up for the New York City Half-Marathon in 2012, pledging to raise $3,200.

“Donations started pouring in and I ended up that year raising just over $14,000,” Pliscofsky said.

She had hip surgery in 2013, so she couldn’t run, but Pliscofsky kept getting donations. In 2014, she convinced a friend to run with her and the two trained for the New York City Marathon, raising more than $27,500.

While training, the women thought, “We run a lot of races, I think we can put on a 5K race,” Pliscofsky said.

The third annual Foxtrot will be held April 23 on the Betar Byway in South Glens Falls. The race attracts more than 300 people, and dozens more who participate by virtual race. One year, the team had runners in 48 states; this year, they have 39 states covered so far. They also added a 10K option this year.

In January 2015, Pliscofsky and her team ran the Disney Half Marathon for Team Fox and raised more than $48,000.

Pliscofsky has been plagued with hip problems — the 37-year-old underwent hip replacement surgery in March — and can no longer run.

“Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to run for my mom anymore, but my friends are running for us,” she said.

In November, eight of them ran the NYC Marathon with Team Fox Adirondacks in honor of Shempp, raising another $48,000.

When they aren’t running, Team Fox Adirondacks members hold fundraising events including Pies for Parkinson’s; Dine to Donate dinners at Cooper’s Cave; events at Moe’s, Burger King, Paint and Sip and Pizzeria Uno; Strike Out Parkinson’s at Kingpin Alley; and Paddle for Parkinson’s on the Hudson River, this year slated for July 24.

Even Pliscofsky’s 7-year-old daughter is in the spirit, operating Lucy’s Lemonade Stand and selling lemonade, cider or hot chocolate, depending on the season, from a front-yard booth.

“She told me, ‘We’re going to find a cure by the time I’m 10,’ ” Shempp recalled.

Lucy raised almost $3,000 last year and, with one sale this year, has already raked in $700.

Brenda Fairbanks is a Team Fox Adirondacks member and said their fundraising rubs off on the community.

“It all trickles down,” she said, describing how people see her family wearing Fox gear, ask them about it and make donations.

“I think with Megan having such a good group of girls, it’s building every year,” Fairbanks said.

Disease takes over

Shempp can will her legs to walk, but sometimes they won’t move. She and Pliscofsky call it being “frozen.”

“There’s no rhyme or reason when it won’t work,” she said. “One day, I’m fine; the next, I’m shopping at Kmart and get stuck.”

One time, Shempp was getting ready to leave her daughter’s house and she froze.

Pliscofsky — who is a Team Fox mentor and, through her volunteering, has met many people with Parkinson’s or with loved ones who suffer from the disease — had heard of someone putting a spoon on the floor in front of the person, which fires something in their brain to step over it.

Pliscofsky tried it with a marker, moving it one step in front of her mother at a time, leading her out of the house.

“It’s awful,” Pliscofsky said. “It takes over your body.

“My mom, compared to even 10 years ago, the difference in her ability to move, it’s very sad to see the way it takes hold of your life.”

Another time, Shempp was frozen at home. Her husband offered to help and she told him, “Your standing next to me isn’t going to help me move.”

After a few moments, she was so frustrated, she stomped her foot. Then she stomped again.

“ ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘If I can stomp, I can march,’ ” and she made her way where she was going with knees raised high.

Shempp feels blessed so far to be spared dyskinesia, the tremors many with Parkinson’s suffer, a side effect of one of the drugs that helps treat the disease.

“That I was really glad of because I have little granddaughters and I don’t want them to be afraid of me,” she said.

Going above and beyond

In her home, Pliscofsky has a Team Fox office with signs from events and medals she has earned.

“It just feels like something I should be doing,” she said. “It’s fun to set these goals, then to crush them each year.”

Her fundraising has earned her invitations to the annual Team Fox MVP awards dinner in New York City every year since 2013.

When she met Michael J. Fox, he was so taken with the Team Fox logo tattooed inside her wrist that he snapped a picture with his phone.

“I’m so proud of and so grateful for her,” Shempp said. “You can’t imagine how your heart just swells up when your kid is working so hard for you.”

Rhonda Triller is features editor at The Post-Star.

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