GREENE – Jim Ross spent Wednesday getting his Gold Wing ready for this weekend’s Red Knights Poker Run. He feels strongly about supporting the event. Not only because he’s a charter member of the group, which is comprised of volunteer firefighters and emergency squad members from Chenango and Broome counties, but because proceeds from the event will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

For Ross, it is a cause which hits close to home. The 45-year old Oxford man was diagnosed 14 years ago with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSH) – a genetic, degenerative disease causes muscle weakness and wasting of facial muscles, as well as shoulders, upper arms, hips and legs.

“I was supposed to be in a wheelchair by now,” Ross said, repeating the prediction made by his doctor following his diagnosis with the progressive disease. But “Radar,” as he is known by others in the fire service, is not one to go quietly. He remembers telling his doctor: “I walked in here, and I’m walking out.”

He has had to make concessions to his more limited mobility, however. He now uses a motorized scooter, for example, if he’s attending events like a Binghmaton Mets game or the Chenango County Fair.

The Gold Wing was something of a concession as well, for the man who has been riding motorcycles since he was 16.

“If I didn’t have a trike, I couldn’t ride,” he said.