duncan228
09-28-2010, 03:27 PM
For him, it's personal: Bruce Bowen and Alzheimer's disease (http://www.kens5.com/news/health/Bruce-Bowen-steps-up-to-help-leada-the-fight-against-Alzheimers-103948744.html)
by Wendy Rigby / KENS 5
For the 19th year, the Alzheimer’s Association is hosting the Memory Walk Saturday, October 2, 2010, to raise money for care and research. One former Spurs basketball player is lending his celebrity to the cause.
Bruce Bowen was a force on the court. Now, in his post-basketball career, he’s a force in our community. Alzheimer’s disease is a cause that for him is personal.
You know him as a fierce defender for the San Antonio Spurs. When he played as number 12, Bowen was a thorn in his opponent’s side.
Now, the former NBA player is using his local celebrity to shine light on a growing health problem: Alzheimer’s disease. This weekend, he’ll serve as the honorary chairman of the Memory Walk, the Alzheimer’s Association’s biggest fundraiser.
Bowen lost his grandfather, Arnold Adams, at the age of 73 to the disease.
“He was very close to me, very dear to me, and taught me a lot of the things that I have been able to execute in my life today,” Bowen said.
“I’d say the last five years of his life, his short term (memory) was really, really gone basically,” he remembered. “And, you know, we would talk and he’d ask me the same things over and over again.”
Bowen and his family will don the signature purple shirts on Saturday, joining more than 2,000 people, who in previous years have raised almost $200,000 locally and $41 million nationally.
“Our money is used for both care and cure,” explained Ginny Funk, Regional Director of the Alzheimer’s Association. “So research funding, but also our local support and services. And in San Antonio, our office supports about a 40-county range in South Texas.”
This week, team captains have been turning in some of the money they’ve raised for this year.
Bowen said anyone whose life has been touched by this disease understands the urgency of funding future breakthroughs.
“It’s not a sentence,” Bowen said of Alzheimer’s. “It’s just a situation that takes place. The more that we can understand that, and do more about it, get more information about it, the better off we’ll be.”
“Through the Spurs, I’ve been able to a lot,” he stated. “Now, this is one of the other goals that I have of making more changes through the Alzheimer’s Association.”
The Memory Walk takes place Oct. 2, 2010, at 9 a.m. at Brackenridge Park in San Antonio. It’s not too late to join in. You can follow the link (http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/findawalk_results.asp?FormSent=1&ZipSearch=78230&MaxDistance=30&ChapterID=&WalkStates=&AllWalks=1&memory=&SearchByZip.x=17&SearchByZip.y=16) on this page.
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See all 7 photos » (http://www.kens5.com/news/health/Bruce-Bowen-steps-up-to-help-leada-the-fight-against-Alzheimers-103948744.html?gallery=y&c=y)
Memory Walk, Saturday, October 2, 2010 (http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/findawalk_results.asp?FormSent=1&ZipSearch=78230&MaxDistance=30&ChapterID=&WalkStates=&AllWalks=1&memory=&SearchByZip.x=17&SearchByZip.y=16)
by Wendy Rigby / KENS 5
For the 19th year, the Alzheimer’s Association is hosting the Memory Walk Saturday, October 2, 2010, to raise money for care and research. One former Spurs basketball player is lending his celebrity to the cause.
Bruce Bowen was a force on the court. Now, in his post-basketball career, he’s a force in our community. Alzheimer’s disease is a cause that for him is personal.
You know him as a fierce defender for the San Antonio Spurs. When he played as number 12, Bowen was a thorn in his opponent’s side.
Now, the former NBA player is using his local celebrity to shine light on a growing health problem: Alzheimer’s disease. This weekend, he’ll serve as the honorary chairman of the Memory Walk, the Alzheimer’s Association’s biggest fundraiser.
Bowen lost his grandfather, Arnold Adams, at the age of 73 to the disease.
“He was very close to me, very dear to me, and taught me a lot of the things that I have been able to execute in my life today,” Bowen said.
“I’d say the last five years of his life, his short term (memory) was really, really gone basically,” he remembered. “And, you know, we would talk and he’d ask me the same things over and over again.”
Bowen and his family will don the signature purple shirts on Saturday, joining more than 2,000 people, who in previous years have raised almost $200,000 locally and $41 million nationally.
“Our money is used for both care and cure,” explained Ginny Funk, Regional Director of the Alzheimer’s Association. “So research funding, but also our local support and services. And in San Antonio, our office supports about a 40-county range in South Texas.”
This week, team captains have been turning in some of the money they’ve raised for this year.
Bowen said anyone whose life has been touched by this disease understands the urgency of funding future breakthroughs.
“It’s not a sentence,” Bowen said of Alzheimer’s. “It’s just a situation that takes place. The more that we can understand that, and do more about it, get more information about it, the better off we’ll be.”
“Through the Spurs, I’ve been able to a lot,” he stated. “Now, this is one of the other goals that I have of making more changes through the Alzheimer’s Association.”
The Memory Walk takes place Oct. 2, 2010, at 9 a.m. at Brackenridge Park in San Antonio. It’s not too late to join in. You can follow the link (http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/findawalk_results.asp?FormSent=1&ZipSearch=78230&MaxDistance=30&ChapterID=&WalkStates=&AllWalks=1&memory=&SearchByZip.x=17&SearchByZip.y=16) on this page.
*********************
See all 7 photos » (http://www.kens5.com/news/health/Bruce-Bowen-steps-up-to-help-leada-the-fight-against-Alzheimers-103948744.html?gallery=y&c=y)
Memory Walk, Saturday, October 2, 2010 (http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/findawalk_results.asp?FormSent=1&ZipSearch=78230&MaxDistance=30&ChapterID=&WalkStates=&AllWalks=1&memory=&SearchByZip.x=17&SearchByZip.y=16)