Rob Eichler: ALS Story Comes Full Circle

Rob Eichler — a 1971 Staples High School graduate, who was involved in Players, the music program and more — now lives in Peterborough, New Hampshire, with his wife Martha. His sister Lissie lives nearby; so does John Zurich, a longtime Westport friend.

Rob Eichler, in the Staples 1971 yearbook.

A year ago, Rob was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). It has progressed rapidly.

John suggested an article on ALS research. There’s a hook: a story Martha wrote about Rob’s dad, Jack Eichler — a longtime Westport resident. 

Here it is. It shines an important light on the disease, and on its impact on several former Westporters.

Martha wrote:

Jack Eichler, Rob’s dad, was a quiet, kind, methodical man whose pocket protector and slide rule were ever-present in his shirt pocket.

He was an Eagle Scout as a teen, then later a Boy Scout leader and beekeeper.

Jack was also a pilot in World War II, carrying parachute troops, towing gliders, and transporting soldiers between the US, Central America and Africa, with 182 ocean crossings.

Later he flew recreationally with a flying club out of Bridgeport, and taught flying and instrument flight aviation.

He became a mechanical engineer, and invented a machine to insert fruit filling into strudel at Pepperidge Farm. Another invention was circular windshield wipers for airplanes.

Like Rob, Jack was a man of many talents. Until Rob was diagnosed with ALS, I had completely forgotten about another of Jack’s significant accomplishments.

One of Jack’s best friends, nuclear physicist Hugh Neale, suffered from ALS. Though Hugh became paralyzed, he could still use his eyes to communicate because eyes are not incapacitated by ALS.

With Hugh, Jack designed a device called the ETRAN Communicator: a rectangular plexiglass window, with a smaller rectangular hole cut out of the middle.

Clusters of letters and numbers were embedded at certain spots around the perimeter of the ETRAN window. Hugh could communicate by indicating certain letters or numbers with a glance of the eyes.

With Hugh on one side of the ETRAN and an observer on the other side, the observer could register which letters Hugh’s eyes selected, and string the letters together into words and sentences.

Using the ETRAN Communicator.

Jack donated the ETRAN Communicator to humanity. He never expected or received any remuneration.

Rob recalls Jack telling him that he called this device “ETRAN” because those ar 5 of the 8 most-used letters in the English language.

In 1982, the ETRAN Communicator was underwritten by the Fran and Warren Rupp Foundation for production and distribution. Jack and Warren Rupp were fraternity brothers at Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University).

More than 1,000 requests for the device from all 50 states were fulfilled that year. Additional orders came from Australia, Canada, England, and non-English speaking countries.

One ETRAN board was issued to British mathematician and nuclear physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking.

A monumental shift for patients and their families occurred, enabling communication for formerly silent individuals.

Jack Eichler, with his invention.

This sea change was noted in an article published by the Dorr-Oliver Corporation, the company founded in Westport where Jack worked as a senior design engineer in the early 1980s.

It noted: “Even small children afflicted by cerebral palsy can use ETRAN II, with symbols instead of letters. Jack’s file is 5 to 6 inches thick, with letters of thanks from parents and relatives so grateful for the chance to communicate with paralyzed loved ones.”

Although more advanced, high-tech options are available now to help non-verbal individuals communicate, ETRAN is still used today.

During an appointment, Rob’s communications augmentation specialist pulled out an ETRAN to confirm its present use.

But at the time of Jack and Hugh’s collaboration, the ETRAN Communicator was a brand new and indispensable tool. It was a selfless and generous contribution to humanity, designed to improve the quality of life for those with ALS and other debilitating, speech-robbing diseases.

We have two ETRAN Communicators in our basement. One is the original prototype board that Jack created to communicate with Hugh Neale. The other was produced by the Fran and Warren Rupp Foundation for public use.

Perhaps one of these will come into use for Rob someday.

How strange a coincidence that Jack would invent a device for those suffering from ALS, never knowing that his son would someday be afflicted with this diagnosis.

But also, how poignant it is that Jack made such an effort to help a friend, and in so doing, improved the lives of countless others also suffering with severe physical limitations.

Clearly, the spirit of helping is a quality that Jack passed down to Rob.

Anyone who knows Rob knows he goes above and beyond to help others, always with kindness, concern and love for humanity. For both father and son, I am eternally grateful.

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Westporters — and everyone else — can help raise funds for ALS research, in Rob’s name.

There is a walk October 5 in New Hampshire. Contributins are welcome, even if you can’t be there. Click here to donate.

Rob writes:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe.

I was diagnosed with ALS in August of 2023.

Rob Eichler

But I first learned about it when I was 13. My dad had a colleague with the disease. I visited a few times with my dad. I was somewhat daunted by the hospital bed in the dining room, the immobile father surround by his wife and several sons around my age.

Years later a college professor of mine was afflicted, forcing his early retirement.

In 2012 a work colleague of mine had a brother with ALS. I volunteered to join an ALS 50-mile bike ride to raise money for research and direct patient care support.

I read somewhere that medical students, when they come across ALS, say, “boy, this is the one you don’t want.”  I thought about ALS occasionally, and felt the same way.

Now that I have ALS, I’m discovering it is much more prevalent than I had thought: about one in 300 men, one in 450 women. Many people I meet acknowledge they had a parent, a cousin, an in-law who struggles with ALS or who has succumbed to it.

Now, in addition to raising funds for research, direct patient care support, and advocacy through the ALS Association, I am volunteering to participate in a clinical trial, and several studies to determine bio-markers for ALS.

Thank you for helping me reach my Walk to Defeat ALS fundraising goal. The Walk to Defeat ALS raises funds to support those affected by ALS and to spread awareness of the urgency to find treatments and a cure.

The life expectancy of a person with ALS averages 2 to 5 years from the time of diagnosis. ALS can strike anyone, and presently there is no known cause or cure.

I’m walking to change the statistics. To bring help and hope to those living with the disease. To ensure that no one ever hears the words: “You Have ALS” again.

The past 2 years have brought incredible advancements in ALS research, expanded access to care for people living with ALS, and enabled legislation that impacts the quality of life of people with ALS and their families.

But we can’t stop now. The key to a cure begins with you.

Please consider walking with me or sponsoring me (click here). With your help, we will be able to make a difference in the lives of people affected by this disease.