AUBURN - A lot of people don't like to mow the lawn. They don't like doing yard work on a tractor, and they certainly don't like plowing their driveways.

Patrick Sullivan loves all three. Those jobs are more fun than work for him.

But that could be because Sullivan is not supposed to be able to mow a lawn or drive a tractor. According to the doctor who first diagnosed him 12 years ago with ALS, he is not even supposed to be alive.

“I asked how long I can live with it,” said Sullivan, who lives in Hannibal. “He said maybe two years. I said I don't think so.”

At the time, Sullivan, 51, was working as the deputy superintendent at the Hannibal highway department. He had been operating heavy machinery and plowing roads for 21 years.

A couple years after the diagnosis, it was getting harder to do the job. His motor functions were deteriorating, and his speech was being affected. He had to retire.

But then, something amazing happened, Sullivan said. After four years of his condition worsening, his symptoms leveled out.

The fifth year was no worse than the fourth year. The sixth year, things stayed the same.

Despite needing a wheelchair to get around and depending on family for assistance, Sullivan is still going.

This month, the Muscular Dystrophy Association has featured Sullivan as part of its “Anyone's Life Story” series. In recognition of ALS Awareness Month, the organization is spotlighting a new person with the condition every day for the month of May.

“I was determined that I wasn't going to let it slow me down,” Sullivan said while sitting on his green John Deere tractor. “I've got to make adjustments, but I'm going to keep going.”

Commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a neuromuscular condition that causes progressive deterioration of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

The condition normally causes one's muscles to become weak and nonfunctional. While ALS does not directly affect involuntary muscle function, such as the heartbeat, people with the disease often eventually become completely paralyzed and lose the ability to speak.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association estimates that between 30,000 and 35,000 people in the United States have ALS. There is no known cure.

Sullivan said doctors have told him that his case is atypical. Most people do not survive more than three to five years after diagnosis.

Things aren't perfect, of course, Sullivan said. His speech has been affected, and other people can have a difficult time understanding him at first.

He jokingly refers to the way he talks as his “Hannibal accent.”

His motor skills have been affected to the point where he can't walk and has limited use of his arms. His wife, Sue, and their two children - Elizabeth, 13, and Patrick, 11- help him with everyday tasks like eating or putting on his shows and socks.

“Something like this makes you really have to put your pride on the shelf sometimes,” Sue said.

Sue recalled one instance when she and her husband were at the motor vehicle department, and it turned out he was able to drive anymore.

It didn't help that the attendant has a less-than-understanding attitude.

“We just took things like that for granted,” she said.

But such details are merely incidental for Sullivan, whose optimistic outlook on his circumstances comes through almost every time he speaks.

There is no point in being negative, he said.

“With any disease, it is not going to do you any good to sit down and let it take a hold of you,” Sullivan said. “You have to get up and get a hold of yourself.”

That's why, instead of staying indoors, he watches his kids play in baseball and softball games, Sullivan said. Or he works on the yard with his tractor, to which his brother-in-law made some mechanical adjustments that allow Sullivan to operate it.

Even in the winter, Sullivan will get on the tractor and clear the driveway of snow - just to get some fresh air.

“It would be easy for me to just hang out, but that is just not who I am,” he said.

When the Muscular Dystrophy Association was gathering prospective names for their “Anyone's Life Story” series, Sullivan's was a perfect fit, according to Scott Wiebe, director of outreach initiatives with the organization.

It is a hard thing to keep that kind of outlook on life in those circumstances, Wiebe said.

“He says that he appreciates his life more now, and the people who are around him,” Wiebe said. “That general outlook is so positive in the face of something that can easily go in the other direction.”

But another reason to tell Sullivan's story, Wiebe said, is because he is just like any other person.

Every year, 5,000 new cases of ALS are diagnosed, he said. And while many people have heard of Lou Gehrig's Disease, a small percentage of them know anything about it. Featuring people with ALS in “Anyone's Life Story,” especially the type of people who can live next door to you, will hopefully help to further educate the public, he said.

“Mostly, there is a lack of general understanding of ALS,” Wiebe said. “The purpose of this is to put a face to ALS, because the fact is that it can affect anyone.”

The Sullivans are happy to be those faces, especially for the local community, both Patrick and Sue said. In fact, they recently helped organize a hop-a-thon with some local churches to raise money for the Syracuse MDA office.

When Sullivan was first diagnosed, they barely knew anything about ALS. Now, they get to be the ones teaching their friends, family and the rest of the community.

“I think somehow, us living here has helped bring awareness to the area,” Sue said.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net