A total of €437,462 was collected during Friday’s edition of Xarabank in aid of the ALS Malta organisation. The money will go to buy equipment needed for people suffering from the degenerative disease and for research purposes.
€100,000 of the total were donated by Bjorn Formosa, a man who two years ago was diagnosed with the disease.
Bjorn and ALS Malta will continue with their campaign to raise awareness and collect money with a concert to be held at the Aria Complex on Saturday.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment – "No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.