BY PRISCILLA GREEAR

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Craig DuVall has the movement disorder Parkinson’s disease and a spirit of faith and determination to understand and overcome it.

Parkinson’s disease has no cure and is treated with various medications for individual symptoms.

DuVall, a parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (IHM), will be among those at the American Parkinson Disease Association’s “Walk to Find the Cure” Sept. 26 at Emory University’s Wesley Woods Geriatric Center. The 5K Run/Walk will help to raise funds for medical research. Registration is $15 and runners will begin at 10 a.m. and walkers at 10:15 a.m.

Planners hope the 13th annual event will attract at least 1,013 walkers and raise $75,000 for research.

DuVall, 49, said he will videotape the event, since he is too weak to walk the course. He attends monthly Parkinson’s support group meetings at Emory and is participating in an experimental program there testing new medication.

A building contractor who first showed symptoms of the disease in 1994, DuVall also researches information on the illness on the Internet and at the library and communicates with other patients. He said he has gained new friends through support groups and letter writing.

DuVall’s 14-year-old son Kevin died in a Boy Scout camping trip accident in early 1995, deepening his emotional pain and struggle to battle the degenerative condition. Raised as a Protestant, DuVall said the helpfulness, love and consolation he received from IHM parishioners following his son’s death led him in 1997 to join the Catholic Church at IHM parish. His wife, Rebecca, is a lifelong member of the parish and both Kevin and the DuVall’s daughter, Julie, were raised in the parish and attended St. Pius X High School in Atlanta.

While mourning his son’s death, DuVall was officially diagnosed with the progressive motor system disorder after experiencing symptoms of fatigue, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and weak muscles.

DuVall, who has a degree in industrial design from Georgia Tech, was forced to stop working last year and misses hobbies such as repairing cars, hiking and serving as a Boy Scout leader.

Daily struggles include having the strength for simple tasks like brushing his teeth and showering. He experiences severe toe and back pain and finds it difficult to sleep beyond two hours a night. One of his greatest challenges is with his ability to talk.

However, he also said that his faith has grown and sustained him through his trials.

“I love the Catholic faith,” he said. “I find it easier to pray these days and I’m not afraid of dying anymore. I’m almost looking forward to it, to see Kevin.”

At IHM, he said, “I really look forward to the Mass on Sunday. I really enjoy them. It’s kind of hard for me to sit for a full hour...I stopped going to church for a while but started back. I feel good about going to church.”

He and his wife want to begin a support group at IHM. “I want to find a cure for this thing,” DuVall said. “I’d be around people who really want to find a cure.”

Rebecca DuVall’s life has changed also as she has adapted it to care for her husband. She recently returned to full-time work as a secretary at IHM, which enables her to support her husband and has given her a newfound joy and strength. She attends caregiver support groups at Emory and in the past year has joined a Bible study and the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) program at her parish.

Assisting her husband with activities such as trimming his hair and buttoning his shirt, she described feelings of frustration in seeing her husband’s fluctuating levels of strength. She has at times felt torn apart and said the most difficult aspect of the illness for her is the intense loneliness she feels.

Yet Rebecca DuVall has discovered, “In marriage the number one unity is the spirituality of the couple, the fact that you are married and dedicated to each other...It’s not just the physical--the essence being the spiritual beauty of husband and wife.”

“(Illness) will test your love for each other,” she said. “Craig is part of me--he is my other half. If he were unable to move I would feel the same way. It could happen to me.”

She is dependent on God and the “deep spiritual strength you do get from God. I pray a lot to deal with it. Sometimes I feel I’m not patient enough, but I love my husband.”

Congress passed the Morris K. Udall Research Act in 1997 allotting $277 billion to research Parkinson’s disease, but the bill has not yet been fully funded. DuVall hopes supporters will contact their congressmen to advocate for it, as he believes that research funding through the bill could lead to a cure.

According to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, the disease is the most common movement disorder in aging adults, most frequently occurring between the ages of 40 and 70, and three million Americans are living with it or similar disorders.

Those interesting in making a donation may make checks payable to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association in care of the Atlanta chapter, P.O. Box 49416, Atlanta 30359.