Bianca Salming, 24, is a Swedish track and field athlete, but also the daughter of hockey icon Börje Salming.
In her summer talk, Salming tells how her father, in the fall of 2021, described that he had difficulty getting certain words out and that something in his throat bothered him. Some time later he was diagnosed with ALS.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a nerve disease that gradually leads to loss of muscle control and strength. There is still no treatment that cures the disease.
— ALS felt like a disease that no one knew anything about. Nobody could do anything, nobody did anything. We just sat next to each other and waited for it to get worse and worse, says Salming in his summer talk.
Didn’t trust healthcare
The 24-year-old says that her father, after a period of illness, had to be admitted to a ward for similar illnesses.
The family had to take turns watching over him and the hospital time became a struggle.
— We needed to be there all the time. We didn’t trust that the medical staff had sufficient control over him, she says and continues:
— The most important thing when you have this particular disease is that you are always in a calorie surplus. But in spite of that, it is careless with screwing up the food and father himself, in his illness, has to take responsibility for things he shouldn’t have to take responsibility for.
Athletics was the salvation
Börje Salming died on November 24, 2022. He was 71 years old.
In mourning for her father, athletics became Salming’s salvation and already two days after his death she was back in training. She ends her summer talk by talking about her gratitude to sports.
— I will forever be grateful for all the times athletics have been there for me. That athletics has been that best friend who never expects anything but just wants me to have fun and feel good, says Bianca Salming.
TT has asked Region Stockholm for a comment on Bianca Salming’s criticism of ALS care.