A Selfless Drive to Aid Research into Rare Neurological Disease

Bill Cross’ life was in a good place 12 years ago.

At age 50, he’d achieved what most view as trappings of success. His business was thriving, a home on the 10th green made for convenient golfing, his finances were strong, and there was time to enjoy traveling.

His todays were sunny, and as for his tomorrows, the future was bright. But that idyllic existence ended cruelly with the onset of a rare, incurable neurodegenerative disease with wide-ranging, progressively worsening symptoms that include ultimately leaving sufferers wheelchair bound.

Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), an inherited brain disorder that degrades balance and coordination, eye movement, and speech, is the disease responsible for Cross’ decline. Spinocerebellar is defined as “of or relating to the spinal cord and cerebellum,” which is located near the brainstem and controls muscle coordination and maintaining equilibrium. Ataxia is the loss of voluntary muscle control.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one to five people in 100,000 worldwide are stricken with one of the more than 50 types of SCA. Cross, 62, estimates there are about 20,000 people with the disease in the U.S. His mother passed away from SCA’s complications in 2025 at age 98. Of his two siblings, his older brother began experiencing symptoms three years ago. 

In Cross’ case, the debilitating symptoms began on his 50th birthday, when he was in Carson City, Nevada, where he lived before moving to East Naples 18 months ago. That marked the start of a physical decline that, over time, led to his company’s collapse and the loss of his financial stability. 

“Over seven years, all of it was gone,” said the current East Naples resident. “That’s what this disease did to me. It’s horrible.”

Today, he finds himself unable to work or do much at all due to difficulty balancing, an unsteady gait, double vision, vertigo, and the rapid, uncontrollable eye movements known as Nystagmus.

Rather than simply surrendering to a future of increasingly debilitating symptoms, Cross wants to be an agent of positive change for future sufferers of SCA, which he described as being in the same category as more well-known, neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, and Huntington’s. 

His goal is to aid the search for a cure for the related disorders by raising funds to donate to researchers by launching a traveling city-to-city, awareness-raising and fundraising tour to educate people about SCA’s effects.

“I’ve got to bring all these other diseases because a cure for one is a cure for all. It’s one of the things I’m going to bring to people’s attention,” he said. “I want to go on the road in an RV that’s wrapped and it’s got the name of what I’m calling this, which I think I’m pretty sure is going to be called “Driving Out Neurodegenerative Diseases,” he said. “I already have a driver helper that’s going to go. It’ll be a fundraising drive where 70 percent of the proceeds go directly to research institutes without all the red tape. When it’s (donations) just given to nonprofits, they have to pay their board, they have to pay their staff, then the money trickles down to research. This way I can give it directly to research centers.”

A portion of the donations will be used to cover travel and lodging costs, as well as to provide educational and other resources for those with the challenging job of caring for neurodegenerative brain disorders in the home.

They are the caregivers and the family members and the loved ones who don’t know what to do,” said Cross. “They don’t know how to deal with this, you know. They don’t have any direction.”

Despite the advancing severity of his symptoms, Cross is determined to see the effort become a reality, in part, to provide himself with a sense of purpose.

“It’s what I need to do and I’m not going to stop,” he explained. “I’m just going to go. I’m just going to go city to city, and I’ll have things set up ahead of time: chambers of commerce, mayors, whoever, governors when I’m in a state capital, meeting with those people and some community members to get the word out.” 

An online account has been created for donations to the campaign. Cross estimates $165,000 will be needed to purchase an RV with graphics advertising the campaign that will serve as an operations center and mobile home away from home. The sum would also be used to cover start-up costs. 

He intends to create a “Driving Out Neurodegenerative Diseases” website so that people can track his travels, donation amounts, and where the funds have been donated. “It’ll all be completely transparent,” he added.

Cross said he’s begun approaching businesses in downtown Naples to solicit donations. 

He lamented the lack of success, thus far, in finding a cure, despite major funding driving intensive research. 

“Over the last 30 years, between government research grants and all the philanthropy and donations, it’s got to be in the hundreds of millions, into trillions, I would guess, the number of neurodegenerative diseases cured is zero. There are smart people who are working hard at it, but they just don’t know that much about it yet. I’m not doing this for me. They’re not going to find a cure in my lifetime. This is for the next group of people, so hopefully, they won’t have to go through this”

Cross’ former life was an active one, with a lifelong passion for golf at its heart. 

The Los Angeles-area native said he was a top junior golfer in Southern California. At age 23, he turned pro and played mini-tours for a few years, then began caddying on the PGA Tour. Next, Cross launched his landscaping construction company in Nevada, which he closed about four years ago after struggling to rescue the business while dealing with the ravages of SCA. 

According to the federal National Institutes of Health, some people begin experiencing SCA symptoms in childhood, but for most, as in Cross’ case, the onset occurs in midlife.

His SCA journey began when he was unexpectedly struck by double vision and vertigo while golfing in Carson City, soon joined by a loss of balance. At the same time, his then 80-year-old mother, whom he was caring for, suddenly began slurring her words.

He said they were seeing the same primary care physician, who wasn’t able to pinpoint a cause for their problems. “This doctor was seeing the both of us and he wasn’t able to put the puzzle together,” he said. “I guess it was too early and our symptoms were different.” 

Over time, her SCA symptoms multiplied and progressed, and she passed away in Naples, without ever receiving a correct diagnosis. As for Cross, he received opinions from a series of doctors who all failed to correctly identify the root cause of his problems. 

The mystery behind the symptoms wasn’t solved until a 2024 phone conversation between Cross and his brother. 

“He sounded exactly like me,” said Cross. “He couldn’t talk. He sounded exactly like my mother and that’s when the light went off. I brought that to a neurologist and that’s when it all came together. This disease is probably one of the most misdiagnosed diseases because it looks like so many others. It wasn’t until then that we put it together. We know now that it’s hereditary.”

Since then, he’s devoted himself to learning all he can about SCA.

If the disease’s genetic mutation is present, “you’ve got a 50-50 shot of getting it,” said Cross before adding, “especially if it comes from your mother’s side, which mine did. If it comes from your father’s side, it tends to be less likely and it does skip generations. But from the mother’s side, it does not do that. These are the things I’ve learned. Knowledge is great, but it’s not a cure.” 

Now he’s looking forward to sharing what he’s learned nationwide, while raising awareness about the rare disease and funds to find a cure.

For more information about Bill Cross’ “Driving Out Neurodegenerative Diseases” fundraising campaign and to donate, please visit https://www.spotfund.com/story/1d147770-db70-479e-a5ca-d71fb4bb7f79