Emmy Medders’ father passed away on Sunday after being diagnosed with ALS almost 5 years ago, the reality was announced on Instagram late Tuesday night.
Medders first shared her father Michael’s diagnosis in an Instagram post in 2019, when she called him “my first and greatest love.” My encouragement and my guardian.”
Medders, who appeared on his father Todd’s reality show with ex-fiancé Chase Chrisley Chrisley knows best, wrote on Tuesday that her father Michael “won the race and now you’re home. 🤍”
“My hero is healed and at rest. My precious dad hung up his jersey on Sunday after a tough battle with ALS. For five years of fighting so bravely and yet so beautifully, he never once complained about the cruel disease or his condition. In difficult times, he was always a comforter. He constantly reminded my family of the things we should be thankful for and how truly blessed we were.”
ALS — short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — is often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the baseball star who famously suffered from the disease. The Mayo Clinic explains that it is a progressive disease of the nervous system and there is no cure.
“ALS often starts with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, problems swallowing or slurred speech. Ultimately, ALS affects the control of muscles needed to move, speak, eat, and breathe,” the Mayo Clinic says.
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Two weeks ago, Michael Medders shared a selfie of himself in an oxygen mask on Instagram, captioned: “Going to sleep; love everything ♥️.”
The responses, however, were relatively upbeat, with his daughter writing: “Get some rest!!! I love you!”
Medders praised her father on her Instagram stories on Tuesday, where she posted a photo of their entwined hands.
Emmy Medders.
Emmy Medders/Instagram
“I told him moments before he was taken into the arms of Jesus that today would be one of the best days of his life, and he knew it. I held his hand with tears in my eyes, smiling through the pain, reminding him how beautiful this day was going to be for him,” Medders wrote.
“I told him that we were so happy that he would be rejoicing in heaven any moment, completely healed and made whole again. He will be able to walk, run, breathe, speak, all that cruel ALS took from him here on earth. No more pain and no more suffering. What a beautiful day it was for him. I selfishly wanted him to stay, but I’m so comforted knowing he’s healed and we’ll see him again.”
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“I will miss seeing your beautiful smile that always lit up any room, your amazing wisdom and advice and your comments on all my Instagram posts saying ‘I love you.’ I will miss your goofy dance moves and your desire to always be playing or watching tennis. I will miss calling you every night just to say “goodnight, I love you.” I will miss your smell, your hugs, your voice and so many memories that I will always, always, always hold in my heart forever.”
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Source: HIS Education