Feb 20, 2009
Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner Joins Chapter Board of Trustees
Norv Turner, head coach of the San Diego Chargers, has joined the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Pacific South Coast Chapter Board of Trustees. The 38-member Board of Trustees oversees and guides chapter operations.
Since joining the team as head coach in February 2007, Turner has led the Chargers to two consecutive playoff appearances. Turner has coached in the National Football League for the past 25 years.
Turner, whose mother lived with a severe form of MS, was honored by the chapter at its 2008 Dinner of Champions, and views Board membership as a way to contribute to eradicating the disease, according to Chapter President Rich Israel. View a video about Turner's experience with MS at youtube.com/MSpacific.
Turner’s late mother, Vicky, spent the last years of her life in a wheelchair before passing away in 1989. As a single parent, she raised five children with the help of public assistance and despite the physical limitations resulting from MS. Norv Turner was the middle child. His oldest sister Janis, who lives near Sacramento, also has MS.
“We are thrilled that Coach Turner has joined the movement to create a world free of MS,” Israel said. “We know that MS is a very personal concern for him because of his family. Now as a chapter trustee he is expanding his commitment to help people affected by MS everywhere.”
“We want to do something about MS now and Norv Turner is just the man to help us advance the MS movement and hopefully end multiple sclerosis forever,” said Joyce Nelson, President and CEO of the National MS Society, “We know that he will bring the same passion to the MS movement that he has brought to the Chargers which will inspire fans across the nation to volunteer and join the movement too.”
Turner is also planning to play golf at the National MS Society’s MS Golf Classic, a fundraising tournament to be held on Monday, May 4, at La Jolla Country Club. Playing spots are still available, but space is limited. For more information, please visit www.golfMS.org.
“There have been so many advances since my mom and sister were diagnosed,” said Turner. “Thanks to people giving money and time and effort, things are easier on people who have MS. We don’t have a cure yet, but my mom always had hope that, someday, there would be a cure that could help her and others.”
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About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.1 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. Last year alone, through our national office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted over $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. Locally, the Pacific South Coast Chapter provides programs and services designed to help the 18,000 people and families affected by MS in San Diego, Orange and Imperial counties move their lives forward. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested approximately $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world. Nearly $4 million is spent on MS research in our area annually. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. Join the movement at www.nationalmssociety.org.
Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800- 344-4867 (1-800-FIGHT-MS).
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