Nov 16, 2016 By Jacob Meyer sports Editor 4 min read

Waynesburg University alumnus RJ Tonks is progressing in his fight to walk again.

Tonks, a 2015 graduate of Waynesburg University, had his motor skills limited due to a rare autoimmune disease called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which causes inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. He contracted the disease when he was only 8 years old. 

Tonks was well-known on Waynesburg’s campus navigating to classes with his motorized wheelchair. The Business Club held a t-shirt fundraiser to help the sport management major travel to a facility in Georgia for medical assistance. 

During the fundraiser, Tonks was named 2014 homecoming king by his classmates

His goal was to walk at commencement, which he did successfully when he graduated in May 2015. 

Since graduation, Tonks is slowly progressing in his fight to walk again. 

Despite difficulties and set backs, he remains confident in his drive.

“I think I have made small strides to walk,” Tonks said. “…I do believe that I will be able to walk again. I don’t know when that is. If God didn’t have it in his plans for me to walk again, I believe I would get to a point where I would stop making progress. I continue to make little progress all the time, so I believe that that it is Him telling me that He has a plan for me to walk again. And how can I give up on that?”

Tonks currently lives with his family in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and works part time at the Sam’s Club in town. 

He said that while the job does not incorporate his major – sports management – itddoes give him ample time to perform his exercises. 

For years, Tonks went to a functional neurologist in Georgia for his treatment; but after college, he started going to a different specialist in Pittsburgh. 

“His method differs from the guy in Georgia,” Tonks said. “The doctor in Georgia – he kind of only wants to push you to fatigue and then stop. But this doctor in Pittsburgh wants to push you to fatigue, a little past fatigue and then back off-which makes a lot of sense because if you’re lifting weights for instance, you’re not going to get stronger by lifting 10 pounds all the time. You need to push yourself.”

Tonks has since finished his treatment plan, and is doing the exercises on his own at his home.

“A lot of the exercises he had me doing were things that I can do at home,” Tonks said. “I had to purchase a couple pieces of equipment. Although he says I’m at a point that for me to walk again, it’s just going to take practice walking.”

Tonks walks around his house with his walker multiple times a day for about 20 minutes each time. 

Rather than sitting while watching the television – usually hockey games – he stands with his walker and watches, to practice standing.

Tonks believes if he continues doing his exercises and pushing himself, that he will one day achieve his goal of learning to walk again.