In 1989 twenty year-old rising guitar hero Jason Becker was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a neuro-degenerative disease famous for taking people down in dizzyingly short time. Jason’s response to this news and five-year prognosis? “Eh, I have stuff to do – catch you later.” It turned out he had many groundbreaking albums to produce in the ensuing 35 years, and countless lives to profoundly inspire through his brilliance, creativity, and perseverance. You may be unable to imagine what his longevity and productivity has demanded – even if you can grasp the mental strength required to forge ahead against such a bleak medical forecast. The facts of life for someone chronically unable to speak, breathe, or move are daunting to put it mildly. Until you are close to it you don’t know the daily grind, enormous price tag, and how few people living with such impairments have any resources to obtain the exceptionally high standard of care and support required to outlive such pessimistic prognoses, let alone sustain meaning, joy and purpose. Jason Becker and his care team realize that his experience of surviving ALS for so many years is invaluable to others involved in similar struggles. We examined the elements and principles that made survival possible, considered how they could be applied on a wider scale, and this project is the result. Our long-range goal is to reduce care-related dysfunction and misery in the wider society, and our “first aid” goal is to give struggling people a lifeline right now.

In 2012 the documentary film Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet was released, giving the world a glimpse of Jason’s life, achievements, and struggles. To see this film click here

Our prayer is to give many more people a way to stay NOT DEAD YET!