had had had hthis is "night" tonight, the hometown hero whose supposed network sparked that viral challenge five years ago, moving millions to raise money and hope for those battling als, a devastating disease not defeating the spirit of three brave warriors. >> i've lived more in the last year than i did in the >> the body-building police detective, the dirt bike-loving dad and the man who helped inspire it all. now the potential medical game changer making the impossible seem possible. reigniting a life's passion. and offering new hope for those fighting als. "nightline," beyond the bucket, will be right back.

alright, so this is how you are going to say... you'll get the best deal of the year on xfinity tv and internet. and you even get this. mike, you're on balloons. sarah, you're gonna high five everybody. ben, you're gonna be wowing them with your dance moves. don't miss the xfinity best deal of the year. now that's simple, easy, awesome. get amazing tv and internet during our best deal of the year. with huge savings of $600 over 2 years. plus a speed upgrade to 400 megs, free for 2 years. and ask about even more savings with xfinity mobile. click, call or visit a store today. "nightline," beyond the bucket, continues. here now, juju chang. >> good evening, thanks for join bei joining us. tonight a glimmer of hope for those fighting als, the ice bucket challenge raised more than a quarter of a million

dollars for the research. and we've been blown away by the people we've met, including those who believe that what you're about to see is a medical marvel. thurmond maynard is in the fight of his life. diagnosed with als at just 35 years old. >> now i have to lean against something for balance issues. my balance has gotten worse. >> reporter: a husband, a father, als has already robbed him of his career, his passion for dirt biking and eventually, it will steal his ability to walk, talk, even breathe. but thurmond still has hope, because he was chosen for a potentially ground breaking clinical trial, using stem cells designed to beat back the disease. and today, he's about to attempt what he was convinced he'd never do again. >> what are you about to do here? >> try to ride a motorcycle.

>> reporter: for the first time in? >> about two and a half years. >> reporter: how's it feel? >> feels good so far. >> reporter: thurmond's convinced he's got a reversal of the devastating symptoms. >> this is the hardest part i had, i couldn't pull the clutch in. >> reporter: it's an astonishing victory. that gives tantalizing hope where once there was none. because this is the brutal reality of als. >> i call it the beast. because it comes at you every single part of your life. >> reporter: you're about to meet three brave warriors at different stages of their olice dective, to b the motocross dad and the hometown hero who helped inspire an internet sensation.

it was the summer of 2014. your facebook feed was no doubt flooded with all your friends dumping ice water on their heads. overnight, the ice bucket challenge exploded. and those three letters, als. >> als. >> als. >> reporter: became known around the world. and it worked, spectacularly. more than $220 million donated to als organizations, for a disease once named after lou gehrig. now five years later in the heart of boston, hundreds of people gathered. >> we can cross the finish line and rid the earth of this disease. >> reporter: watching from the stage, one of the men who helped launch millions of ice buckets.

>> swinging the bat today with an awful lot of confidence. >> reporter: it wasn't long ago that pete had a bright future and beautiful girlfriend when out of nowhere, heartbreak. >> he throws up a slide burned forever in my memory. i don't know how to tell a 27-year-old guy they have als. >> for a young guy like myself to be diagnosed, hopefully i can use my youth and network i'm part of. >> reporter: tapping into those social networks, beginning with boston's biggest athletes, he helped launch a worldwide movement, eventually reaching billionaires, even presidents. pete and his girl friend got married. even had a baby, despite the odds. pete's mission, to keep fighting for his young family. his bravado helping so many in the throes of this terrible

disease. people like sarah olson who's now benefitting from the millions raised by that icy challenge. >> joe, you are getting too fat. >> reporter: the average age for onset of als is 55. sarah was just 29. she's now on one of only two treatments available to als patients, radacava, which was fast-track ray proved. what would you say? >> it's helping. it's months on my life that because of pete i have that chance. in the past year and a half, things have changed. but i still have use of my arms. my hands. my voice has not changed. it's quieter, but things could be a lot worse. >> reporter: this was sarah just a few years ago, a body-building champion in peak physical condition. >> 7% body fat, six pack abs,

oh, yeah. >> reporter: you had it going on. >> it was dedication. >> reporter: how much time were you spending in the weight room? >> about three hours a day. >> reporter: off stage she was just as fierce, a sporty tomboy turned undercover detective for the kansas city vice squad. what was your favorite part? >> interacting with the kids. i love dealing with the kids. i'm a woman. i'm small. so the little girls would, they loved to see me in a uniform. >> reporter: you're like a super hero come to life. >> that's what it felt like. >> reporter: but two years ago the super hero began losing strength on her left side and her legs kept twitching, the combination, potential sign of als. >> and i didn't know what it was. thought maybe it was related to energy drinks, cut out the energy drinks, then just progressively got weaker and weaker. wound up trying to go up some stairs, fell backwards on my

head, got several stitches. i knew i had to get some answers. >> reporter: she finally met with a neurologist. did you get a sense from the neurologist, something's up? >> hoeroh, yeah. they have a my chart system, where you can look up your records, i looked it up and i knew right then that's what i had. >> reporter: sarah attacked her diagnosis hid diagnosis head on. >> i said mom, you've got five more meinutes to be sad, then w have to figure this out. we've got to work through it. >> reporter: but in her mission to push forward, some stayed behind. you were married at the time. >> i was. >> reporter: what happened? >> he walked out. couldn't handle it. couldn't face it. but it was a bump in the road. and i moved on. >> reporter: you're not bitter. >> no. life's too short.

>> reporter: short indeed. but sarah's zest for life only grows. >> i've got to go on probably close to 20 trips with all my loved ones, friends, family, making so many memories. you know, i've lived more in the last year than i did in the first 30. >> reporter: she's even managed to find love again. her former supervisor, police captain lonnie price, her very own super hero. >> as i needed more assistance, lonnie stepped in the picture. he's like, you don't need to drive, i'll come get you. and it kind of evolved. and that was my person. i felt safe, felt comfort if he was there. >> reporter: how did you fall in love? >> how can you not fall in love with somebody who takes such good care of you? >> reporter: this is the first time i've seen your eyes get misty. why? >> because i'm lucky. he's very selfless. takes excellent care of me.

there it is. >> reporter: during the day, lonnie takes care of sarah's every need. and together, they squeeze joy out of every moment. he veerptolunteered for the ovet shift to make it all work. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> reporter: friends and family take over. >> yeah, that's good. >> reporter: while lonnie patrols some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. >> unless they find a cure you know what the end is, so that's the tough part. she's the one i want to be with, and it's ra honan honor to take of her. >> he knows what lies ahead. he's informed himself. so he's not going anywhere. >> reporter: neither is the police department, keeping her on salary, letting her work when she can. her co-workers gifting her their precious sick days. >> i had 400 donated sick days

in two days. >> reporter: 400 donated sick days? >> i had people asking me are you okay on days? tly delay her symptoms,eatmentg but the only hope for a break through lies in a few trials. because of her progression, she is not eligible. are you trying to get on that? >> i would love to, but i have to give up my breathing machine, and i can't afford to do that. >> reporter: but thurmond maynard is one of the very few people who have been accepted into a potentially ground breaking trial. there have never been a reversal of symptoms which is why what he's about to show us is remarkable. that's a change. this stem cell study may be doing the impossible, reversing the symptoms of his deadly disease. >> whenever i went back to the doctors, hey, have you noticed any kind of improvement? i said yes, i can stand on my

tippytoes. a wow factor. >> reporter: you wowed your doctors. >> i wowed myself. >> reporter: when we come back. if you are able to ride today, what will that tell you? >> that will tell me something's working. >> reporter: thurmond is about to try something he hasn't ton in two years, stay with us. oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (announcer) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles.

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we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call anotr nce company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today. "nightline," beyond the bucket, continues. here again, juju chang. >> my dad's name is? my favorite thing to do with my dad is? >> reporter: most ahs patients

are given two to five years to live, but pete is still fighting. costly, round the cholock care keeping him alive. his legacy, lucy. >> when my mom dumped water on her head when she had a black dress on, i was actually there. >> reporter: promising new treatments may not make a difference in his battle, but the family is still focussed on the future. >> this hwill go back to pete ad the ice bucket challenge. for being the beginning of the end of that disease. >> reporter: the solution may already be coursing through thurmond's body. he was your typical sports buff who married his school sweetheart. >> i was playing football. she was a cheer leader.

enough said. >> reporter: game over. >> reporter: they bonded over their who have of riding dirt bikes. their two teenagers who have to ride as well. a family that rides together stays together i guess? >> questi >> yes. >> reporter: why does he who have it so much? ? t >> the freedom. >> couldn't pull it in, couldn't shift gears. it was like a snowball effect. >> reporter: he received that dreaded diagnosis, als. >> i was stupid about the disease. i didn't know nothing about it. >> reporter: what went through your behind? >> reporter: with thurmond unable to work, the couple sold their home and that prized dirt bike. how des pperate were you to fin some hope? >> i called several of the

hospitals and nobody reached back out to me. and out of the blue, an icon popped up on my cell phone, it had a phone number, i clicked it and called it. >> reporter: that's good spam. >> that's awesome. >> reporter: thurmond's poe greg is relatively slow. making him a perfect candidate for the stem cell trial in boston. so they decided to make the long commute. the treatment involves removing a patient's own stem cells and treating them. he is one of 130,000 people chosen. nobody knows is thurmond is actually getting his own enriched stem cells or a placebo. you're convinced that you're not on the placebo. >> i'm not convinced. i feel strength back in my body. of course my left hand.

>> reporter: is it the power of placebo? >> if you're injecting water in my spine, say continue. i feel great. >> reporter: dozens of stem cell trials have all failed to provide a treatment, but thurmond's trial is already attracting attention, in part due to this video, als activist matt balima, that's him rising from his wheelchair for the first time in two years and months later, this, take beiing steps. he's the only patient getting the treatment outside of a chinical trial. he fought for access to try. just yesterday, aatieadca gup r groundbreaking meeting with brainstorm's team and the fda. als patients clamoring for speedy access to treatment.

>> we've seen cases where people got better very quickly, but we don't know enough to say that they actually stayed better. so promising is the best we can say at this point. >> reporter: back home in west virginia, thurmond is convinced he's regaining skills he thought he'd lost forever. >> before, i wasn't able to use my left hand. now. >> reporter: it's working pretty well. >> pretty simple to use. >> reporter: something essentially unheard a>> reporter: that's a small gesture but a huge meaning. >> yes. >> reporter: but today, a bold decision, attempting to get back on a dirt bike for the first time in over two years. >> today's going to be the firth day. >> reporter: today's the day. there's an old saying among motorcycle riders. four-wheels move the body. two wheels move the

how's it feel? what does that mean? >> speechless. almost hilike having a newborn baby. >> reporter: you're giddy right now. >> yeah. >> reporter: in your mind, you felt like you'd never ride again. >> i never thought i'd have this moment right here, ever again. >> reporter: today the joyride of lifetime. it may seem like a small thrill but a towering act of defiance in a disease that stands undefeated. i don't want do be foolishly optimistic, but do you think it's the stem cells doing it? >> if it's not, it's got me fooled. it's working. >> reporter: wow, goose bumps. like job. when he was diagnosed with cancer, his team at ctca created a personalized care plan

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♪ you know, after baseball legend lou gehrig was diagnosed 80 years ago he called himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth and added i may have been given a bad break but i have an awful lot to live for.

we've witnessed that steely dirt-bike loving maynard family. they, too, have an awful lot to live for. please go to "nightline's" facebook page for more information. thanks for joining us, goodnight, america.