Tony Brigano, ’73,with members of Team Michelle.

Over the past seven years, Tony Brigano, ’73, has raised nearly $180,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. And he’s done it with hundreds of inmates from the Ohio State Correctional Facilities by his side.

“I’ve been told by the MS Society that I’m the only person in the US doing MS walks in prisons with inmates,” he said.

Brigano, a former warden in the Ohio prison system and court administrator for Warren County Probate and Juvenile Court, began walking in support of MS 10 years ago, when his daughter, Michelle, a high school math teacher in Maryville, Tenn., was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS shortly after the birth of her second child.

He and his wife, Diane, who also worked in corrections (“We met in prison,” he said, noting that she was an intern at Lebanon Correctional Institution, where he began his career) began attending meetings to learn about the condition and how it might be treated.

“But I wanted to do more,” he said.

Tony with Michelle

Tony Brigano with his daughter, Michelle.

So he decided to reach out to the prisons to see if they would be willing to let him organize MS walks with the inmates. In 2017, he coordinated his first one-mile walks for Team Michelle at the three facilities, two of which he worked as a warden—Warren and Lebanon Correctional Institutions. Since then, the initiative has “snowballed” to 15 walks this year.

Brigano typically meets with inmates who are part of various groups within the prison and shares his daughter’s story before asking them to help.

“Twenty years ago, I never would have talked to the inmates about my children, but now, not only do I want them to hear about MS, but also about how it affects my daughter and my family,” he said.

After Brigano explains how MS has impacted Michelle, beginning with the loss of her eyesight (which she eventually regained), her cycles of relapses and remittance, her treatments and the trials she has participated in, he asks the inmates if they know of anyone who has the condition.

“It’s remarkable how many raise their hands,” he said.

Brigano has received enthusiastic support from both the administration and the inmates, who appreciate the sense of normalcy, purpose, and meaning these walks give them. Between 40 and 400 inmates participate in each walk, and many of them are those he first encountered during his 30 years in the prison system. One, in fact, a talented singer and musician whose brother has MS, was inspired to write and record a song for the MS Society after reconnecting with Brigano.

The MS walks have inspired the inmates to contribute to the cause in other ways, as well—they’ve created items like afghan blankets and clocks to auction, held sales of pies and pizza, and donated their own money.

“It might surprise people, but a lot of these inmates want to give back to their communities,” said Brigano, who earned a B.A. in history from Niagara before obtaining his master’s degree in corrections from Xavier University. He notes that they also will often offer prayers for his daughter. “It doesn’t matter to me where the prayers are coming from, we’ll take them,” he said.

Brigano hopes to organize 16 or 17 walks in 2025, and to continue this work as long as he can.

“I’ll be back every year as long as I can keep walking,”  he said. “It’s a labor of love.”