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Bronx, N.Y. (July 24, 2013) - As the days of July dwindle down to a precious few for the Fordham University football players, thoughts start to turn to the start of summer camp on August 2. But before camp starts, the Rams have a few final days of their summer conditioning program and for the second straight year they decided to utilize the time to help raise funds for their Uplifting Athletes chapter.
 
Uplifting Athletes is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that aligns college football with rare disease research. There are currently 21 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 not 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.
 
The Fordham Uplifting Athletes chapter was formed last year under the leadership of Andrew Milmore, Daniel Avedesian and James Avedesian and they identified pediatric brain cancer research, specifically extrarenal rhabdoid tumors as their rare disease.
 
It was an easy choice for the Rams to decide on a rare disease as just prior to forming the chapter, the Rams adopted Ty Campbell, a young boy who was suffering from an extrarenal rhabdoid tumor. Unfortunately, Ty lost his battle with the disease last October but the Rams still fight on in his memory.
 
"Extrarenal rhabdoid tumors are a highly aggressive soft tissue cancer that mostly affects children and the survival rate is 5%," said Milmore, who was one of seven finalists for the Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award last year. "Everything we've done has always been for Ty Campbell. 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."
 
Seniors Vincent Antinozzi and Thomas Fisher have taken over the reins of Fordham Uplifting Athlete chapter and look to be even more successful this year. Their goal is to raise $10,000 for the year and they have plans for various fundraisers throughout the year as well as t-shirt sales that will help them reach the goal.
 
Donations are easily made through the Fordham "Lift for Life" team page at www.upliftingathletes.org/ua-chapter/fordham.
 
About Ty Campbell

In the summer of 2011, the Fordham University football squad added a new teammate, one who was only four years old and who was battling something bigger than anything the Rams would face on the field.
 
Ty Louis Campbell was born on October 4, 2007, the first child for Cindy and Lou. But on August 11, 2010, their lives changed forever. A mass was found at the base of his skull and Ty was later diagnosed with an extra renal rhabdoid tumor; a very rare and aggressive cancer. He underwent treatment for the cancer for two years before losing his battle with the disease on October 17.

Ty and his family's story is truly inspirational and consistently inspires the Fordham Football family. Here is the link to his mother's blog, Super Ty Blog, that shares the Campbell's experiences. It also provides links to Ty's Facebook page and foundations that support kids with cancer.