Behind The Shield

Eric Stevens is a collegiate and NFL football player turned firefighter. Eric was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) earlier this year. We discuss their athletic careers, how they met, being given a terminal diagnosis, how a potential cure is being withheld, how you the listener can help and much more.“The average life expectancy of ALS diagnosed patients is 2-5 years. Currently, the most promising treatment called NurOwn is going through a phase 3 trial, meaning that people who have been diagnosed and are potentially a good match for this treatment don’t have access to it unless they accepted into a trial. The trial is a double blind study, so even if you get accepted you only have 50/50 chance of actually receiving the treatment. Once your time in the trial ends, all participants are taken off the treatment even if it is greatly improving their lives.We respect the FDA, as well as the drug companies working hard to bring new treatments on the market. However, even with this respect for these agencies