The two began dating after Matt, in his own words, got up the nerve to ask her out. Over the next three months things seemed perfect to them, but Matt noticed that Sabrina seemed ill. She was tired easily, she sometimes had trouble speaking, she was losing weight.
When he asked if she was ok she told him it was fine, the doctor was treating her.
What she did not tell him was that only a month after they started dating she had been diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and the prognosis was not good.
Finally after her surprise sweet 16 party two of her friends, both in tears, broke the news to Matt.
He was obviously devastated but when Sabrina asked him if he was going to leave her because of the diagnosis he responded “I will never leave you, no matter what”. For both of them facing trials in life was not new.
Sabrina’s grandmother and mother both died from ALS. Matt had been diagnosed with a mild learning disability, had endured teasing from schoolmates due to speech problems and had watched his grandmother die from cancer. But both overcame these problems.
