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Friday, August 05, 2005 

Jim Kelly's Son Dies


Jim Kelly has been one of my favorite Pro Football players of all time. He's made his sons inherited illness no secret. A few hours ago, this little hero lost his life.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Hunter Kelly, whose battle with a fatal nervous system disease inspired his Hall of Fame quarterback father Jim Kelly's charitable works, died Friday morning. He was 8.

"Our prayers go to the family and kids," Jim Kelly's brother, Dan, told The Associated Press.

Hunter's Hope Foundation spokesman John Dudek said Hunter died at the Kelly's home in Orchard Park, N.Y. Dudek said Hunter had been having trouble breathing, possibly the result of the humidity and high temperatures that have hovered in the 90s this week.

"He has been struggling for a while," Dudek said. "They did note that he had a high temperature yesterday ... and apparently, he had stopped breathing."

Dudek said the family called 911.

The foundation is named after Hunter, and was established in 1997 by Jim Kelly and his wife Jill. It has raised more than $6 million and awarded more than $3.8 million to leukodystrophy and other neurological disease-related research.

Born in 1997, Hunter Kelly was given no more than three years to live after being diagnosed with Krabbe disease, an inherited degenerative disorder of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The disease hinders development of the myelin sheath, a fatty covering that protects the brain's nerve fibers.

The disease has no known cure.
My prayers are with the Kelly family...

I remember when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and said during his acceptance speech, as pictured above;
"It has been written throughout my career that toughness is my trademark. Well, the toughest person I've ever met in my life is my hero, my soldier, my son, Hunter. I love you, buddy."
I got the chills, he is still a hero of mine.
Finally rest in Peace little Hunter...

R.I.P. Hunter. :(

My sympathies. The illness sounds familiar. Was this the same illness the child in the movie Lorenzo's Oil suffered from? I remember that disease also being the degradation of the Myelin sheath.

it was a rare form of a similar disease that effectively does the same thing as MS only with Autistic symptoms included.

Jim Kelly championed his son no matter how disabled he was...

Marino today, during his induction into the NFL hall of fame, mentioned the Kelly family and was close to tears as he expressed his sympathies.

Kelly and Marino were such rivals on the field with a rivalry that was developed between those two over the last couple of decades. To hear Marino mention his empathy towards the Kellys was quite refreshing.

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