Footy for Fred '18
Donation protected
As many of you know, my father passed away on February 17, 2017. However, what many of you may not have known is that he suffered from an illness called sickle cell anemia from the time he was a child. We held a soccer tournament in memory of my Dad at on Friday, March 3rd, 2017 and based on it's success, we have made efforts to turn this into an annual event.
We have scheduled the the second annual tournament for 9:15 PM on March 2nd, 2018 at Foote Field. Any donations in advance would be greatly appreciated as we will be looking to diversify our donations this year by contributing to two new initiatives in addition to the Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta. The three areas we will be passing donated funds on to are:
Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta
P.O. Box 52119
Garneau, Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2T5
Registered Charity #: 864039540 RR 0001
Fred Ehiwe Youth Soccer Scholarship
Fort McMurray Youth Soccer Association
Box 10 8115 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray, AB T9K 2H7
Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada
Unit 34 260
Adelaide St. E, Toronto, ON
M5A 1N1
To provide further background on the disease, sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder and while it causes immense pain throughout the body, my father did not want to let it impact his life. When described by others, the associated was commonly said to be worse than labour by females that had experienced both child birth and also described to be a similar feeling to that as if bones were breaking inside of your body in the area impacted by the interlocking blood cells. My Dad described it to me as if you were being stabbed repeatedly over and over again.
Some of the statistics that accompany this blood disorder include:
- 50%-90% of infants die at birth when born with the disease
- The disease reduces life expectancy by 20-30 years
- Life expectancy for those suffering from the disease in 1976 was 18, in 1994 it was 42 and even in 2016 with all of the medical advances, the life expectancy was still just 60.
In addition to the pain associated with the disease, other symptoms include:
- Organ damage
- Severe infections
- Hypertension
- Difficulty breathing
These symptoms would cause my father to be bedridden and stricken with pain for various lengths of time until we could help him get things under control each time. Despite all of this, my father led an active lifestyle and left his mark on a number of different lives. He managed to lead a relatively normal life outside of the crisis' related to the disease and followed soccer very closely until the day he passed.
He was actively involved in coaching during our time in Fort McMurray and was well known throughout the soccer community. He was a great man and any funds we can raise to help others combat this disease and hopefully one day find a cure will be a step in the right direction. If this helps to allow just one family to spend more time with a victim of the disease, this will all be worth it.
For information on the 2017 initiative, please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/footy4fred
We have scheduled the the second annual tournament for 9:15 PM on March 2nd, 2018 at Foote Field. Any donations in advance would be greatly appreciated as we will be looking to diversify our donations this year by contributing to two new initiatives in addition to the Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta. The three areas we will be passing donated funds on to are:
Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta
P.O. Box 52119
Garneau, Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2T5
Registered Charity #: 864039540 RR 0001
Fred Ehiwe Youth Soccer Scholarship
Fort McMurray Youth Soccer Association
Box 10 8115 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray, AB T9K 2H7
Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada
Unit 34 260
Adelaide St. E, Toronto, ON
M5A 1N1
To provide further background on the disease, sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder and while it causes immense pain throughout the body, my father did not want to let it impact his life. When described by others, the associated was commonly said to be worse than labour by females that had experienced both child birth and also described to be a similar feeling to that as if bones were breaking inside of your body in the area impacted by the interlocking blood cells. My Dad described it to me as if you were being stabbed repeatedly over and over again.
Some of the statistics that accompany this blood disorder include:
- 50%-90% of infants die at birth when born with the disease
- The disease reduces life expectancy by 20-30 years
- Life expectancy for those suffering from the disease in 1976 was 18, in 1994 it was 42 and even in 2016 with all of the medical advances, the life expectancy was still just 60.
In addition to the pain associated with the disease, other symptoms include:
- Organ damage
- Severe infections
- Hypertension
- Difficulty breathing
These symptoms would cause my father to be bedridden and stricken with pain for various lengths of time until we could help him get things under control each time. Despite all of this, my father led an active lifestyle and left his mark on a number of different lives. He managed to lead a relatively normal life outside of the crisis' related to the disease and followed soccer very closely until the day he passed.
He was actively involved in coaching during our time in Fort McMurray and was well known throughout the soccer community. He was a great man and any funds we can raise to help others combat this disease and hopefully one day find a cure will be a step in the right direction. If this helps to allow just one family to spend more time with a victim of the disease, this will all be worth it.
For information on the 2017 initiative, please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/footy4fred
Organizer
Tyron Ehiwe
Organizer
Edmonton, AB
