Parkinson’s group honors advocate By Becky Taylor Press Lifestyles Writer

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Eight years ago Peggy Willocks was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but she did not let this news stop her from doing what she could to help find a cure.

For her efforts, Willocks recently received the Parkinson’s Action Network’s Louis Fishman Award for Outstanding Advocacy during the network’s 9th annual forum in Washington.

In presenting the award, Sen. Lamar Alexander said, “Peggy is a reason to be proud of Tennessee. She was an early pioneer in education in our state, but the reason we honor her today is for her tireless advocacy on behalf of those with Parkinson’s disease.”

Willocks, a former principal of Harold McCormick Elementary School in Elizabethton, was named Tennessee Principal of the Year in 1997. In 1998, she took disability retirement due to Parkinson’s.

Willocks became very active in the search for a cure and in helping others cope with the disease. She has served as State Parkinson’s Advocacy Network Coordinator for Tennessee, North East Tennessee Parkinson’s Support Group president and Johnson City Young Onset Parkinson’s Support Group leader.

She is also a founder and co-editor of a Web site called “Grassroots Connection.”

“Grassroots was created by three women with Parkinson’s,” Willocks said. “It’s to keep people on the cutting edge of all that is going on in legislation and scientifically.”

She is also a member of the Parkinson’s Pipeline Project, which helps get drugs and treatments out of the Food and Drug Administration pipeline. She said it can take 14 years before a drug is approved and put on the market.

Willocks decided she would go the ultimate route and participate in an experimental surgery to help find a cure for the disease.

“Three years ago I participated in an experimental surgery in Atlanta,” she said. “I was one of six recipients of the surgery in world.”

In Parkinson’s disease, a neurotransmitter called dopamine is deficient in certain areas of the brain, causing progressive symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, and slowed, difficult arm and leg movement. In the procedure undergone by Willocks, Spher-amine, a cell therapy product, was surgically injected into her brain. Spheramine consists of normal human cells that provide dopamine attached to microcarriers, and is designed to deliver dopamine to the regions of the brain affected by Parkinson’s.

“I had a friend who had a progressive Parkinson’s, and she passed away five years after she was diagnosed. It’s horrible to be imprisoned in your body and not able to move,” Willocks said. “I did this for her and all people who have Parkinson’s. I had to do something drastic. I’m still not cured, but I’m on the road.”

(Contact Becky Taylor at btaylor@johnsoncitypress.com).