Footy4Fred A Sickle Cell Initiative

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.

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. He managed to lead a relatively normal life outside of the crisis' related to the disease. These would cause him to be bedridden and stricken with pain for various lengths of time until we could help him get things under control each time. 

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

Despite all of this, my father led an active lifestyle and left his mark on a number of different lives. He  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 also followed Manchester United very closely as they were his boyhood team until a little bit of Arsenal was forced on him when I was born.

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.

We held a soccer tournament in memory of my Dad at on Friday, March 3rd, 2017 and based on it's  success, we anticipate turning this into an annual event. We are already lookimg forward to next year's event and any donations in advance would be greatly appreciated. This would help provide assistance to those that may one day find themselves in the same position my Dad once was.

All donations raised will be passed on to:

Sickle Cell Foundation of Alberta 
P.O.Box 55041 
1704 Mill Woods Rd South NW 
Edmonton, Alberta, T6K 4C5
Canada

Registered Charity #: 864039540 RR 0001