UConn Punter Connor Stutz launches “Punts for the Cure” initiative for diabetes research
UConn Football punter Connor Stutz took to social media on Wednesday evening to announce his partnership with 908 Solutions to “raise money for diabetes research”. Through this partnership, the Seattle native will also launch the “Punts for the Cure” campaign.
Although not a diabetic himself, Stutz has called the disease his “daily reality.”
“I have grown up witnessing firsthand the relentless, 24/7 battle my father and sister face living with [type 1 diabetes],” Stutz explained via his Breakthrough T1D donation page. “I have seen the constant finger pricks, the careful carb counting, the insulin injections, and the sleepless nights worrying about high or low blood sugars.”
Stutz plans on dedicating every punt, yard, and moment he experiences to those fighting type 1 diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that prevents the pancreas from making insulin. Type 1 diabetes affects fewer people than type 2 diabetes, but people who suffer from it have to take insulin daily.
The Bishop Blanchet High School alum aims to raise $1,700 in honor of his jersey number, 17. No deadline has been provided for this fundraiser. 16 people have contributed $923 as of midday Thursday.
More than half of the initial goal has been met, but Stutz holds high confidence in the community he is reaching out to.
“I know that with a team like this, we can blow that goal out of the water,” the Washington Class 3-A All-State team selection commented in that same statement on his Breakthrough T1D page. “Your support will help fund critical research aimed at developing better treatments and, ultimately, finding a cure for T1D. Together, let us flip the script on this disease and punt it out of our lives for good.”
Anyone who wishes to donate to Stutz’s fundraiser can do so through this Breakthrough T1D link.
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