COLUMBUS, Ohio — Emily Rimer knows just how powerful flowers can be.

But these bouquets that she’s assembling with her friends, like Sienna Repp, aren’t for her.

They’re for patients who are battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS.

What You Need To Know

  • An Olentangy Liberty High School senior lost her mother to ALS 

  • She started a foundation in her mother's honor 

  • She wants to attend Columbia University, a school she said offers the best resources for ALS patients with the hopes of eventually becoming a doctor

“She thought it would be nice since most ALS patients can’t do most things since they’re losing their mobility so something to brighten up their day would be flowers because that makes everybody feel better,” said Repp, junior at Olentangy Liberty High School.

Rimer knows all too well about the struggle that ALS causes.

For nearly four years, the Olentangy Liberty High School senior teamed up with her younger brother to help care for their mother who had the disease.

She died in May of 2023.

“It’s a lot more complicated than it seems because ALS literally takes away all of the things that you would normally do — you don’t really realize it, but it limits your ability to brush your teeth, brush your hair, shower, turn in bed,” said Rimer, senior at Olentangy Liberty High School.

Rimer said this took a toll on her and her little brother. 

“We really got to see how detrimental and horrific the disease was up close,” Rimer said.  

But Rimer said after losing her mother, giving up wasn’t an option. She knew she had to do more. She wanted to provide hope for other patients experiencing what her mom went through. 

“I continually saw my mom researching treatments, trying to find something, a new clinical trial,” Rimer said.

With the help and support from her brother, dad and some of her best friends, Rimer was able to start the Gina Rimer Foundation, raising tens of thousands of dollars with all proceeds raised dedicated to funding ALS research and clinical trials. 

“I could never even imagine being in her situation she’s one of the strongest people I know. I think about her all the time and her perspective on things and how bright she is for everything she has gone through,” Repp said.

Rimer credits her friends, like Repp, for the success the foundation is having.

“I mean she spent so much time going around getting donations from local businesses, she single handedly pulled together the silent auction,” Rimer said.

All of it helping to raise $50,000 for the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center.

Hoping that one day, there will be a cure, so that the smiles that come from their flowers will be able to last for years to come.

Rimer is hoping to turn her passion into a career.

She wants to attend Columbia University, a school she said offers the best resources for ALS patients with the hopes of eventually becoming a doctor.