Nanci Ryder with friends Courteney Cox, Reese Witherspoon.Photo: Source: Reese Witherspoon/Instagram
The fight to cure ALS got personal forRenée Zellweger,Jennifer Garner,Reese Witherspoonand other A-list celebrities when veteran publicist Nanci Ryder was diagnosed with the disease just over two years ago.
This Sunday, those stars and others, includingCourteney Cox,came outto support theWalk to Defeat ALS in Los Angelesfor the third time since Ryder, 64, went public with her diagnosis in 2014.
During her 30-year-plus career, Ryder represented numerous A-list clients — including Witherspoon, Zellweger, Michael J. Fox andLeonardo DiCaprio— as a founder of BWR Public Relations. She stepped down from the company in 2014.
Within the past several weeks, the power publicist has gone from walking, to a walker, to a wheelchair as a result of balance issues related to ALS. Despite her physical limitations, Ryder has retained her trademark humor and sarcasm. “Her iPad is loaded with catchphrases, including some off-color ones,” Fred Fisher, President and CEO of the ALS Association Golden West Chapter tells PEOPLE. “She’s still having fun. She’s still poking people. She has a wicked sarcastic sense of humor and I really enjoy that.”
Fisher explains that ALS is a disease of adaptation — meaning, you have no choice to adapt to whatever happens as you declines. “That’s why Nanci is so incredible. In the face of something must of us could never imagine living with she’s not just living with it, she’s thriving. That’s not unique to Nanci, but she exemplifies it.”
Fisher adds that Ryder’s dedication to turning her personal hardship into a solution for everyone “teaches all of us how to face our fears, confront our obstacles and keep our eyes firmly focused on making the world a better place. I feel privileged to know her.”
At Sunday’s walk, Cox told PEOPLE, “I’m just here because I love Nanci Ryder, and I would do anything for her, and I would do anything to help find a cure for this disease, and if we can get more awareness, more money, or just more support.”
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“It’s wonderful that everyone comes out. It’s so nice that everybody whose career she has fostered, who she has given so much to, is here showing their love for her today. It’s an inspiring day,” Zellweger told PEOPLE at the event.
“You just show up,” Witherspoon echoed to PEOPLE. “We have an incredible group of organized people, so when Renée calls me I just show up, or when Courtney calls me we just rally. Nanci has a great team around her, a great group of people that she has done so much for over the years, and we just motivate each other and keep constantly in touch with each other. It’s been incredible to see how connected her friends are, and her friends are her family.”
Renée Zellweger, Courteney Cox, and Reese Witherspoon Support Team Nanci in ALS Walk
“She’s incredible,” Witherspoon told PEOPLE of Ryder at the 2015 event. “I mean, talk about a survivor. She’s just managed to have such grace.” The actress, along with the other team members, wore Vera Wang-designed “Team Nanci” T-shirts at the walk.
While the disease is fatal, Ryder has not given up hope that public attention — including the Ice Bucket Challenge became popular the same year as her diagnosis — might lead to a cure. “Nobody is getting rid of me yet!” she toldThe Hollywood Reporterin 2015. “I joke around. I email my doctors on Mondays: ‘Did you find a cure?’ “
source: people.com
