Former Rutgers athlete creates fund to support spinal cord injury initiatives

SHORT HILLS, N.J., Sept. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eric LeGrand, the former Rutgers University football player who suffered a spinal cord injury during a football game in October 2010, will officially launch Team LeGrand, a partnership program with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, during the Scarlet Knights game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 14. Team LeGrand aligns with the Reeve Foundation's mission of helping individuals living with spinal cord injury and their families by supporting quality of life initiatives and emerging therapies.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100511/REEVELOGO)

LeGrand will announce the initiative during halftime when the Scarlet Knights will retire his former No. 52. This honor marks the first time in the team's 144-year history that a player's number will be retired.

"While I've been so fortunate in my recovery process, there are so many people living with spinal cord injuries who don't have access to the proper resources," says LeGrand. "By creating Team LeGrand, I'll be able to help all of those individuals on their road to recovery, and together we can achieve Christopher Reeve's dream of empty wheelchairs."

LeGrand is also a participant of the Reeve Foundation's NeuroRecovery Network at Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in West Orange, N.J., where he receives locomotor training, a process that re-teaches the body how to walk using manual assistance by specially-trained physical therapists on a treadmill system.

To support Team LeGrand, text REEVE to 20222 to donate $5 or visit TeamLeGrand.org/Join to become a member for a $52 donation. Members receive a Team LeGrand T-shirt, "bELieve 52" bracelet, subscription to Eric LeGrand updates and invitations to special events and volunteer opportunities.

About Team LeGrandTeam LeGrand of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation helps individuals living with spinal cord injury and their families by supporting quality of life initiatives and emerging therapies that will get us to the end zone -- cures for SCI. For more information, please visit www.TeamLeGrand.org or call 800-225-0292.

About the Christopher & Dana Reeve FoundationThe Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau's standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB's Charity Seal. For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-225-0292.

SOURCE Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

RELATED LINKShttp://www.christopherreeve.org