Purple Out Night: Fighting Cystic Fibrosis

At the Sidney High School basketball games taking place this Friday night in Cabela’s Athletic Facility gym, a big mass of the crowd will not be wearing their usual Sidney supporting attire but instead t-shirts supporting a different cause. That cause is Cystic Fibrosis awareness.

Sidney High School cheerleaders have teamed up with local adults and have been selling t-shirts and will continue to sell them at the game to raise money and awareness for the disease.

Friday night is being called Purple Out Night at the school and the $12 t-shirts say, “Red Zone” on one side and, “Go big or go home! Red Zone Cares!” on the other side with the purple ribbon that symbolizes support for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) awareness.

The proceeds from the t-shirt sales will go to the Boomer Esiason Foundation that fights against cystic fibrosis. The cheerleaders will present the check to Laura Stafford and her son Derek Hill, who will then present the check to the foundation.

Derek was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 6-months-old, according to Stafford.

“The older you get the more progressive the disease gets. It used to be that kids born with it lived to be between 3-6, then it was 18-years-old, and now the life span is up to 32,” she said.

Derek has been receiving treatment at Denver - Children’s Hospital on a more regular basis.

According to information put out by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by a defective gene which causes the body to produce abnormally thick and sticky fluid, called mucus. This mucus builds up in the breathing passages of the lungs and in the pancreas, the organ that helps to break down and absorb food.”

“An estimated 1 in 29 Caucasian Americans have the CF gene. The disease is the most common, deadly, inherited disorder affecting Caucasians in the United States.”

CF is passed down through families and is one of the most common life-threatening chronic lung diseases in children and young adults, according to library information.

The disease can cause life-threatening lung infections, serious digestive problems and can affect sweat gland and the male reproductive system.

“Millions of Americans carry the defective CF gene, but do not have any symptoms,” said researchers at the library. “That’s because a person with CF must inherit two defective CF genes -- one from each parent.”

Most CF cases are diagnosed in an individual by age 2.

The Boomer Esiason Foundation was established in 1994, after Esiason’s son Gunnar was diagnosed with the disease in 1993.

“The Boomer Esiason Foundation is a dynamic partnership of leaders in the medical and business communities joining with a committed core of volunteers to heighten awareness, education and quality of life for those affected by cystic fibrosis, while providing financial support to research aimed at finding a cure,” according to the foundation’s website contributors.

Since the beginning of the program, the foundation has made over $85 million to support CF research to find a cure and to fund programs helping those affected by CF.

Casey Cortney, owner and physical therapist at Sidney Rehabilitation and Wellness Clinic is also a part of the Sidney adult support group for Derek’s cause and said that this fundraiser is just the beginning of many ideas to help support CF awareness.

“This is one step in promoting CF awareness and we will eventually be working on a medical fundraiser for the student athlete in the future that would be directly for him and his medical needs,” the physical therapist said.

Cortney said that the cheerleaders have ordered nearly 130 t-shirts so far for those who have purchased them and the support group hopes to distribute them before or during the games Friday night for those who have preordered.

She said that people can still order shirts at the game or call her at 250-2625 or Katy Heineman at 255-7477 if they can’t attend the games but would still like to purchase a shirt. Those that are bought at the game however will have to be ordered and won’t be available until a later time, she said.

The JV game starts at 4 p.m. at the gym and the boy’s varsity game will end the night starting at approximately 7 p.m.

“We are really excited for Friday,” said Stafford.