“I would like to thank fellow Raider alums who have made me feel welcome at SOU, Coach Brian McDermott (Men’s Basketball) and my family, who have led a fund raiser that helped cover non-medical costs during my transplant procedures and my life-long friends that I met while attending SOU. They have really helped me through the rough times by reaching out and showing their support.”
Erion Moore II ’07, Criminal Justice, has found ways to enjoy life through some rough terrain. Erion made the choice to finish his last two years at SOU and loved school while playing on the men’s basketball team. He was easily one of the most popular student-athletes on campus. However, during his senior year, he began experiencing ailments that led to a diagnosis that he had scleroderma, a chronic and progressive auto-immune disease that results in the hardening and tightening of the skin. He stood 6’6” and weighed 205 pounds at SOU but his weight plummeted to 120 pounds. In 2012, he joined a hematopoietic stem cell transplant study at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, but not before becoming incapacitated through skin tightening and joint damage. Due to the skin tightening, he wasn’t able to sit or stand up straight nor look up or to the side. He would lose his job due to his health.
Six years ago, Erion’s physical rehabilitation was to get up from his hospital bed, walk to the door and get back into his bed safely, unassisted. Over the years, post-transplant, there has been significant improvement though nothing will ever be 100%. He credits Lameco Eskrima, his physical therapist for a number of years, water aerobics, a recumbent bike and adaptive sports for helping in his recovery. Since then, he has been able to play table tennis and ski, both in bi-skis (sitting) and standing. His hope is to find a career where he can work remotely and maybe one day compete in the Paralympics.
“I would like to thank fellow Raider alums who have made me feel welcome at SOU, Coach Brian McDermott (Men’s Basketball) and my family, who have led a fund raiser that helped cover non-medical costs during my transplant procedures and my life-long friends that I met while attending SOU. They have really helped me through the rough times by reaching out and showing their support.”
