He trained thoroughbred horses, manufactured hot tubs, sold units in a Colorado time-share project, and worked as an executive at a film company. He met success and tasted failure, but he always sprang back with a new scheme, a new goal, a further refinement of his search for fulfillment. Now Marcus's life is in its final act. He won't overcome Lou Gehrig's disease, which destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and eventually renders muscles useless.
Most victims die three to five years after diagnosis.
In the three years since Marcus learned he'd contracted the affliction, he has gone from playing tennis daily to confinement in a wheelchair. Today he cannot use much of his body from the neck down. He is still able to move his arms, but his hands are paralyzed except for thumbs and index fingers. His legs are incapacitated and the muscles in his back and chest do not function. When sleeping he must use a ventilator so he won't suffocate.