The Kevin Turner Foundation

THE KEVIN TURNER FOUNDATION WAS STARTED IN 2010, AFTER KEVIN'S DIAGNOSIS AND A SUBSEQUENT PAPER WRITTEN BY DR. ANN MCKEE LINKING ALS AND CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY (CTE). PEOPLE WERE JUST STARTING TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF CONCUSSION, AND CERTAINLY NO ONE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE POTENTIAL LINK TO ALS AND OTHER MOTOR NEURON DISEASE AT THAT TIME. SEEING THAT NFL PLAYERS WERE 4-8 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO PRESENT WITH ALS, AND KNOWING THE BRUTALITY OF THE GAME AND ERA KEVIN PLAYED, WE BELIEVED THAT DR. MCKEE WAS REALLY ON TO SOMETHING. WE WANTED TO FIGHT TO STOP ALS, BUT IF IT WAS, IN FACT, CONNECTED TO CTE AND REPETITIVE HEAD TRAUMA, THEN WE FELT WE HAD A DUTY TO WARN AND HOPEFULLY PREVENT THE DEVASTATION OF THIS DISEASE FOR SOMEONE ELSE. SINCE THEN, WE HAVE BROUGHT THE LEADING SCIENTISTS IN ALS AND CTE TOGETHER FOR DIALOGUE AND HAVE ENCOURAGED AND FACILITATED COLLABORATION; WE HAVE TAKEN OUR MESSAGE TO CAPITOL HILL AND TESTIFIED BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE; WE'VE HAD PEOPLE CLIMB MOUNT KILIMANJARO AND RIDE 120 MILES THROUGH THE COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN KEVIN'S NAME, ALL TO SPREAD THE WORD AS FAR AND WIDE AS WE CAN.WE LOST KEVIN IN MARCH OF 2016 AND WHILE THE FOUNDATION MAY HAVE HIS NAME ON IT, FOR KEVIN IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HIM. IT WAS ABOUT HELPING OTHERS. HE FELT SO SERIOUSLY ABOUT THIS MISSION THAT HE DONATED HIS BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD TO FURTHER RESEARCH, THE FRUIT OF WHICH, WE ARE QUITE CERTAIN WE WILL SEE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. WE ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THIS RESEARCH, HOWEVER, AND WE STILL VERY MUCH NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE KEVIN'S MISSION.