Photography that matters #LetsKickSomeALS

Jul 2

Traveling through life with a purpose - kapuPatel Photography presents the next part of The YouShine Movement - Bodies That Tell Stories (The Body Campaign). The very inspiring Sara Cooper of the Cooper Creative Group kick started this powerful campaign. We photographed her in her home, in Princeton area, New Jersey.

In November 2018, Sara was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as MND (Motor neurone disease) or popularly, Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a progressive disease, which means it gets worse over time. It affects nerves in your brain and spinal cord that control your muscles and causes increasing paralysis over time. ALS eventually takes away the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow, and breathe and shortens the life span. Living with ALS is physically difficult, but it is reassuring to know that the mind usually is not affected. It is always fatal and the average life expectancy after a diagnosis of ALS is about 3-5 years. There is no known cure for ALS currently.

Sara is confident that she is not going to be defined as someone who is going to be depressed because she has ALS and she is determined to challenge the false perception that ALS is a man’s disease, or a baseball player’s disease or a rare disease. “No, it’s not. This is ALS.” she says, touching her hand to her heart. Joined by her family, her friends and the community, Sara is going to do everything in her power to bring awareness and most importantly, push for advancements in treatment for this disease.

Sara was generous with her time to give us an opportunity to photograph her (along with her Mother) and hear her inspiring words on how she is handling her life-altering diagnosis. Sara has made it her mission to #LetsKickSomeALS. You can be a part of this too! Check out her Go Fund Me Page here: https://www.gofundme.com/uu3vm-help-for-als

Sara is the 2019 Impact Award Winner for the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber Women of Achievement Awards.

See some of Sara’s beautiful portraits and hear her words on what her mission is and how she chooses to travel through her life with a purpose. “Let’s just go for it, let’s make a difference”, she says.