Jan. 8, 2013
Vote for the 2013 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award
Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham University senior offensive lineman Andrew Milmore (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) has been named a finalist for the 2013 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award it was announced today. Fans can vote in the award by clicking here, through January 31.
The Rare Disease Champion Award is given to a leader in college football, individual or organization, who has realized his or her potential to make a positive and lasting impact on the rare disease community. Uplifting Athletes believes the accomplishments of all the finalists are admirable. The stories of adversity and triumph were not only inspiring to the Uplifting Athletes organization, but also to the communities in which these leaders reside.
Milmore, who served as the Fordham chapter president, joined with Daniel Avedesian and James Avedesian to establish the Fordham chapter of Uplifting Athletes last spring, and have made sure that the Rams have been actively involved in the program by organizing fundraisers at home football games.
Uplifting Athletes is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that aligns college football with rare disease research. There are currently 16 Uplifting Athletes chapters nationwide including Penn State, Notre Dame, Boston College, Colgate, and Princeton. Each chapter has adopted one of nearly 7,000 rare diseases that collectively affect close to 30 million Americans. 75% of these rare diseases affect children and 30% of children with a rare disease will no live to see their fifth birthday. Treatment options for rare disease patients are often extremely limited and 95% of rare diseases have no FDA approved drug treatments.
When the Rams were looking for a rare disease to associate their chapter with, it turned out to be an easy decision. In the summer of 2011, the Fordham University football squad adopted "Super" Ty Campbell, a young boy suffering from an extra renal rhabdoid tumor.
Ty fought extrarenal rhabdoid tumors, a form of pediatric cancer, for more than two years. Sadly, Ty lost his battle with the rare disease in October.
"Everything we've done has always been for Ty Campbell," said Milmore. "At five years old he faced more adversity than most face in their entire lives. Kids like Ty deserve every opportunity to be happy and healthy, and hopefully Fordham football raising money for pediatric brain cancer can help another child down the road."
Players wore various gold gear at games his year, such as shoe laces and wristbands, to help raise awareness since gold is the ribbon color for pediatric cancers.
To learn more about the Fordham Chapter of Uplifting Athletes, visit their page at www.upliftingathletes.org/ua-chapter/fordham.
