1983-84 MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Dies At Age 30

Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS
Article Date: 16 Aug 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Christopher Rush, former MDA national goodwill ambassador, died in his sleep at his Ann Arbor, Mich., home during the night of Aug. 11.

Rush, 30, had spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that causes loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord and subsequent wasting of muscles. He used a power wheelchair for mobility.

Known to his friends as Toph, Rush was articulate, active and a high achiever, most recently earning a law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis, who was close friends with Rush, remembers him as extraordinarily outgoing and witty. "He was a friend to everyone he came in contact with," Lewis said. "He was a true inspiration and just a lot of fun to be around."

World-renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh, who made Rush's portrait when he served as goodwill ambassador, said he radiated, "…the implicit faith in the goodness of life that only children possess."

Rush's abilities were apparent even as a toddler. Although his physical development lagged, Rush could speak in complete sentences before he was a year old. His articulation made him a natural as MDA's youth spokesperson, and at age 7 he traveled thousands of miles across the country with his family - sometimes visiting as many as four cities a day - spreading MDA's message of hope for people with neuromuscular diseases.

During his tenure as goodwill ambassador, Rush appeared on all major television talk shows and mingled with the powerful and prominent. He visited and exchanged jelly beans with former President Ronald Reagan in the White House, threw out the opening balls at dozens of professional baseball games and became close friends with famed performer Tony Orlando, even participating in the singer's lavish Greek wedding.

Rush's desire to prove himself continued in his teens when he became the first known person with a neuromuscular disease to become a certified scuba diver. "I could swim, stand, kneel…all the things I'd never done before, but dreamed about," he said of his experience in water. Rush dived in exotic climates for years, even as he prepared to move out on his own and begin college.

He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, then earned a Juris Doctor degree in 2005, and planned to practice entertainment law with an emphasis on intellectual property.

When he left the security of his parents' home for college in 1996, Rush said, "It's freedom. I'll always be dependent on someone as far as attendants and that type of thing. But it's a chance for me to try new things, a chance to prove to myself how capable I am."

Muscular Dystrophy Association