Valley Philanthropist Regains Control of His Life

Jimmy Walker has spent the past six decades working with some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports, including Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Reba McEntire, Michael Jordan, Reggie Jackson, and The Greatest himself, Muhammad Ali. But through it all, he was silently battling a neurological condition that left him feeling like he couldn’t control his movements.

Jimmy was 19 and at the height of his Arizona State University basketball career when his friend and fellow athlete, Reggie Jackson first noticed the condition. He says he can still remember every detail of their conversation: “We were having breakfast one morning when Reggie suddenly asked me why my hands were shaking so much. I was immediately embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. I just tried to hide it as best as I could.”

Jimmy spent years trying to hide the shaking, but it kept getting worse. He finally went to see a doctor, who diagnosed him with essential tremor – a progressive movement disorder that causes uncontrollable shaking in the hands. That was in 1994, the same year Jimmy launched the internationally renowned Celebrity Fight Night benefiting the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute.

“By the time Celebrity Fight Night came about, I wasn’t even trying to hide the tremor anymore. I’d go into a meeting and straight away tell people I had essential tremor. Being honest about it at least helped a little,” he says.

During the event’s 21-year tenure in Phoenix, Jimmy became a regular presence at Barrow and got to know many of its physicians.

“Every time I’d run into one of the doctors, they’d ask me when I was going to get the tremor fixed, but I kept putting it off. The thought of brain surgery, even by the best, really scared me,” he says.

However, daily living had become almost unbearable. He had to brush his teeth with both hands and drink everything with a straw to prevent spilling. He says it would take him at least five or six tries just to sign his name: “I’d have to redo the same things over and over again because of the shaking. Every day, I grew more frustrated until I finally had enough.”

With the support of his loving wife, Nancy, Jimmy took Barrow up on its long-standing offer to help. He met with neurosurgeon Francisco Ponce, MD, to discuss deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for the tremor. DBS is a procedure that uses electrical stimulation to correct abnormal rhythms in the brain, much like a pacemaker does for the heart.

“Dr. Ponce explained everything about the surgery to me very carefully and even put me in touch with a few patients who had already been through it so they could share their experience with me.”

After a lot of deliberation, Jimmy strengthened his resolve and underwent surgery with Dr. Ponce. When he woke up the next morning, the shaking was completely gone.

Through philanthropy, neurologists like Holly Shill, MD, FAAN, director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, can work closely with Dr. Ponce on research to further refine DBS surgery for essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, and dystonia, providing relief to more patients.

Philanthropy also enables Barrow to advance DBS technology to clinical trials for epilepsy, chronic pain, stroke, tinnitus, and other previously untreatable conditions. Barrow is also at the forefront of focused ultrasound, a minimally invasive procedure, and brain-computer interface, which captures the brain’s electrical activity to control a computer. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize treatments for the most complex neurological conditions, and your support makes it possible.