NJ's Chris Carrino: Nets Voice a Story in Perseverance

One of the greatest stories of perseverance is that of Chris Carrino, the radio voice of the Nets on WFAN, and a proud Fordham WFUV Radio alumnus.

The Marlboro, NJ native had quietly battled facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy for many years before revealing his illness in 2011. That’s when he launched the Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD to raise awareness and dollars to help those with a similar plight. The works have been amazing on both fronts.

Each year since then, the foundation holds an annual dinner dance at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach in Queens, N.Y. Not only is the cause a worthy one, but the shindig is a wonderful evening of fun and entertainment. It’s a chance to renew old broadcast relationships, too, with the likes of Nets television voice Ian Eagle, CBS Sports Radio’s Andrew Bogusch, YES producer Frank Degrace, Nets trainer Timmy Walsh, WFAN Radio update man Bob Heussler, Sirius XM Radio and WCBS radio’s Justin Shackil, and many more. Fairfield AD Gene Doris, like Carrino a Fordham alum in sports, has joined the fray to support the cause in recent years.

Every year I vow to do a double header that would start with a beach day in Rockaway as the opener, change from the bathing suit to the suit and tie, for the night cap of the twinbill at the dinner. Maybe this year!

This year’s sixth annual gala is set for Thursday, July 21, again at Russo’s, where the food is spectacular, especially the bountiful spread for cocktail hour. Bring your appetite and loosen your belt buckle! Tickets are priced at $150 per person and tables of 14 are available.

To reserve your tickets by July 1, 2016 with a check made payable to: The Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD, 13 McDonald Rd., Marlboro, NJ 07746, or e-mail clcarrino@optonline.net; for information on how you can be a Sponsor or place a Journal Ad, you can email info@chriscarrinofoundation.org. Visit www.chriscarrinofoundation.org for details on the foundation and its events.

Another event is scheduled for June 20 in Carrino’s Marlboro hometown at the Fireside Grill and Bar, as The Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD teams with an international alliance of FSHD Champions to declare World FSHD Day! To commemorate the occasion, Chris and his wife Laura will be hosting a get together with friends and supporters.

The foundation recently announced that donations have enabled a fund to another scientific grant. The Board of Directors of the Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD have approved the funding of $85,000 to Dr. Scott Harper at the Ohio State University Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. The grant is a continuation of funding for research into developing a muscle specific DUX4 inhibition system for FSHD therapy. It has the utmost confidence in the work of Dr. Harper and his team and look forward to sharing with supporters the continued progress of their important research, made possible by your generosity. The foundation has now awarded over $350,000 in scientific research grants in search of a treatment and cure for FSHD, and thanks the many who have contributed and to the brilliant, dedicated researchers!

The Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the effort of eradicating the life-altering effects of Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). We are an independent, volunteer foundation providing funding to research scientists in the hope that stimulating scientific research in the field of FSHD will lead to an effective treatment and eventually a cure.

Although FSHD is now the most common form of muscular dystrophy, FSHD research has been dramatically under funded by major muscular dystrophy organizations and the National Institutes of Health for decades. The Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD is the only organization in the New York area, and only one of three in the nation, specifically focused on FSHD.

FSHD usually strikes during the teenage years. By age twenty, 95% of individuals with FSHD will have symptoms related to muscle weakening. At the present time, FSHD patients are faced with the harsh reality that they are living with a progressive disease for which there is no treatment and no cure. Thousands of patients are devastated by the unrelenting effects of muscle deterioration and disability. Thousands of lives are forever changed. Thousands of dreams are forever shattered.