Year after year an ALS patient from Miller Place participates in a Ride for Life to raise money and awareness about Lou Gherig's disease.

For 17 years, Chris Pendergast is joined by volunteers also looking to raise money and awareness about the disease. This year, they started in East Hampton and will continue through Nassau and Suffolk and end in Manhattan on the 12-day ride. Some say the ride gets tough in the rain or heat, but they say as long as they are drawing awareness to the disease, that's all that matters.

Pendergast, who some say has defied the odds, continues to educate students across Long Island about his disease. Barbara Brown, a volunteer, says that Pendergast gives patients hope.