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Mark’s final battle: Awaiting the day he no longer will be able to breathe, Utah veteran soldiers on with a smile against an enemy he won’t defeat

Orem • Mark Sargeant knows the exact date his old life stopped. Oct. 17, 2016. What he doesn’t know is when this new one will end — except that it will be sooner, much sooner, than he had ever expected.

That fall, the vigorous former soldier noticed his left arm had grown a tad weaker but, with typical optimism, he thought the remedy was a few more chin-ups. Later, as he took the microphone to address his large clan at a family reunion outside Elko, Nev., the then-63-year-old extrovert’s hand started shaking.

Not unduly concerned, Mark visited his doctor back in Utah, who, after examining him, recommended a neurologist.