Calling full-court press on Alzheimer’s disease

At a National Alzheimer’s Dinner held on April 25, in Washington, D.C., University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Head Coach Emeritus Pat Summitt and her son Tyler were presented with the Alzheimer Association’s Sargent and Eunice Shriver Profiles in Dignity Award by Maria Shriver, a leader in Alzheimer’s awareness and daughter of the Shrivers.

Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s this past August, 59-year-old Summitt and her son created The Pat Summitt Fund to provide grants to nonprofit organizations to raise awareness and fund support for research and families impacted by the disease.  Summitt said that she and her son established the fund because “we couldn’t change my diagnosis, but we could try to do something positive with it.”

The dinner was hosted by NBC Correspondent Meredith Vieira, whose brother lives with Alzheimer’s, and was attended by advocates in Washington for the Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum.


Topics: Advocacy , Alzheimer's/Dementia