OAKLAND, Calif.—Oakland Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki has agreed to become an Ambassador for The NephCure Foundation, a national kidney disease non-profit committed to funding research for the disease Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and Nephrotic Syndrome.
NephCure (www.nephcure.org) is important to Suzuki because his sister-in-law Patricia Vignery has been suffering from the kidney disease FSGS since she was eight years old. Now a student at Cal-State Fullerton, Patricia is attempting to manage the disease with various medications while handling a full-time class load, which can be difficult since the disease routinely drains patients of energy and experimental medications cause other harsh side effects.
“NephCure has been instrumental in how our family has been dealing with FSGS," said Suzuki. “We learned of NephCure through an educational program they hosted in Los Angeles a few years ago. The information really helped our family learn more about the disease and what we could do. By joining NephCure as an Ambassador, I want to help the foundation gain awareness so that other families can benefit in the way ours did by getting involved."
Suzuki plans to record a Public Service Announcement and along with his wife, Renee, host a Kidney Disease Awareness Day at an A’s game this season.
