Aggies Coach Jimbo Fisher 'Amazing' Reveal: Unprecedented Possible Cure for Son's Rare Disease
Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher was giving a speech at the Dallas A&M Club Wednesday for Coach's Night event when college football fans all came together.
Fisher began his speech with some good news that his son, Ethan, could be cured from Fanconi Anemia in 2-4 years after beginning gene replacement therapy in June, according to 247Sports. Fanconi Anemia is a condition that affects bone marrow, resulting in decreased production of red and white blood cells as well as platelets, according to Medline Plus.
Said Fisher in his speech (via 247) “We have extended life expectancies over 17 years since we started our fund. But more importantly, within the last week, I got a text from his doctor because of the research that we are the largest funder for in the world ... This has me really excited. This thing bridges into the BRCA gene, which we all know with women is the breast cancer disease. Fanconi turns into leukemia. It bridges into all of these different cancers.
“We are talking about gene replacement therapies now that they can go in and fix things before you ever have to have a bone marrow transplant – before you have to have anything. It cures these cancers and diseases.
“It is the first time it has been done in the world. It is being done on Ethan’s cells right now in June. We are thinking, we went from no cure 10 years ago to today thinking that in two to four years, they could possibly cure this thing. ... It is also going to help women with breast cancer. It is going to help leukemia. It is going to help everything. These are amazing things. All of the money that you are donating, thank you and God bless you for what you do.”
Fanconi Anemia is extremely rare in the United States, occurring in one in every 130,000 births with 31 babies being born with the condition each year, according to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Fisher and his wife, Candi, founded the Kidz1stFund in 2011 — the same year Ethan Fisher was diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia at 6 years old. The organization has "worked to raise awareness and funds toward research into this rare disease, as well as encouraged people to join the National Bone Marrow Registry," according to its website.
According to the Kidz1stFund website, the Fishers have donated over $11.2 million to University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital and registered over 7,500 people for the National Bone Marrow Registry.
Follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419
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