OUTLET: The Virginian-Pilot

When Beth Williams Prever lost 100 pounds, it was the toughest thing she had ever done. Until now.

She was diagnosed in April of this year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The neurological condition has no cure. In time, it weakens muscles so those afflicted cannot move. Or swallow, breathe and talk.

“I would rather lose my speech than my mobility,” said Prever, who lives in Portsmouth. “I hope that the disease will progress very slowly.”

Virginia Beach businessman Bruce Thompson, in an email, called her battle with the disease “courageous.”

He knows it takes courage to live with ALS, because his son, Josh, lives with it, too.

Since 2009, Prever has organized employees at her company to participate in an annual fundraiser for the disease named for Josh — the JT Walk and Beach Party. It has raised millions of dollars and her own efforts have amounted to almost $800,000.

This year’s event is Oct. 9 and officials will earmark all of the money raised by a group of her friends called “Beth’s Brigade” to help pay for her long-term care. It “could reach as high as six figures annually,” according to the organization’s website.

Bruce Thompson, meanwhile, has been instrumental in helping Prever complete her bucket list. She wants to visit England, Ireland, Scotland, Alaska and Montana; take girls’ trips to New York City and the Napa Valley; go whitewater rafting; and “jump out of a perfectly good airplane.” And, “I want to see my ‘boyfriend’ in concert, Jon Bon Jovi,” she said.

The 50-year-old senior vice president of marketing and public relations at TowneBank in Suffolk typed these words. It is easier for her to email or text than talk. Her speech began to slur last summer, the first sign that something was wrong.

Eventually, she will lose her ability to type. The illness has progressed to her back and arms over the last three months. She has already had to stop working out at her gym, Crossfit 757 in Ghent, and misses it.

“It’s so ironic that I would have ALS,” Prever said.

Starr Oliver, her boss at the bank, described Prever’s work ethic as “very strong with a high sense of urgency. She is a get-it-done-now person who does not procrastinate and stays ahead of deadlines. There is a place for her at Towne for as long as possible because we need her.”

Many others are also contributing to Beth’s Brigade. The Bold Mariner Brewing Company in Norfolk is throwing a bash on Aug. 19. Her Churchland High School classmates (she graduated in 1983) are organizing a block party at Baron’s Pub in Olde Towne Portsmouth on Aug. 27. The Egg Bistro in North Suffolk is opening the restaurant on a normally-closed night to hold a fundraiser on Aug. 30. And 18 gyms throughout South Hampton Roads are generating contributions.

The help doesn’t stop there. Friends cook and clean for her. Fellow employees have donated sick leave. She has received cards, flowers and motivational books.

“I want to thank everyone for their support – my family, my Towne family, my church family, my Crossfit family, my high school classmates and my close friends. It really has been overwhelming.”

Any TowneBank location will accept donations to Beth’s Brigade for the JT Walk, Prever said. All proceeds will go into a trust for her long-term medical care. Checks should be made payable to The Virginia Gentlemen Foundation, a nonprofit.