CJAD News - Ex-CFLer Proudfoot works to tackle Lou Gehrig's disease as his health fades

The ex-sportscaster and college professor has made his struggle a public one. His goal is to raise awareness about the fatal disease and attract much-needed cash for research. To date, the Tony Proudfoot Fund has raised $450,000 for the ALS Society of Quebec and three research projects. He says it may eventually bankroll two more. Proudfoot's doctor, Dr. Angela Genge, says research into the disease is grossly underfunded.

"Even if you take into account the number of people developing the disease, our funding is a fraction of what everyone else has," said Genge, director of the ALS clinic at the Montreal Neurological Institute. "People don't appreciate how common ALS is because people always die. If they looked at just the frequency at which people developed it, they would be far more worried about this disease."

Genge is overseeing a research project to find out how many high-level athletes in collision sports have been diagnosed with ALS. She says nine out of about 15,000 all-time CFL players have come down with the disease — including a new diagnosis in the last year.