“Before the competition was announced, we had received donations from more than 1,500 donors around the world totaling more than $90,000,” Gold said in a statement. “Others inspired by Bob have reached out to us for a fundraiser in his name.”
For example, she said, a minor league baseball team in Virginia, the Fredericksburg Nationals, wanted to honor Saget in their “Legends Never Die” game, while another Saget fan wanted to stream on the Twitch platform. Media fundraiser.
Saget died Sunday at the age of 65, having lost his beloved sister Gay in 1994 after battling the rare autoimmune disease scleroderma.
The loss prompted him to raise funds for research and advocate for a cure.
Ironically, the comedian and actor first got involved with SRF before his sister was diagnosed with a chronic disease that causes connective tissue and skin to harden and tighten.
“I said yes and hosted the event starring Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell and others,” he said. “I had no idea, just a few years later, my sister would be diagnosed with the disease.”
Saget shared that his sister, 44, was a teacher in the Philadelphia area when she was first diagnosed. Medications, including prednisone and cortisone, were used to treat her, but it only resolved her symptoms, he said.
“She had to move to Los Angeles to live with my parents because she needed a lot of help,” Saget said. “She died two years later.”