MIAMI (AP) — Celebrating a relationship dating back more than 20 years, disability activist Marc Buoniconti presented the Miami Heat with an award Friday to recognize the team’s ongoing support of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.
Buoniconti, the son of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, has been paralyzed from the neck down since making a tackle for The Citadel in 1985. He and his father have helped raise nearly $350 million since for neurological research, both crediting Heat owner Micky Arison and his family for being significant supporters.
Nick Buoniconti says the research group “is at the 1-yard line” before seeing a major breakthrough that he believes will not only affect paralysis, but things such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases as well.
