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Steelers' Holmes spreading the message
Buzz up!By John Harris, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 12, 2009


Santonio Holmes
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. ? As a youngster, Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes experienced pain that racked his body similar to what his seven-year-old son endures today.

As a child, Holmes didn't know the source of that pain ? but he knows now.

His son has sickle-cell disease.

"I went through the same thing as a kid ? same pain in my stomach all the time, arms just start hurting for no reason," Holmes said following a recent workout at Disney's Wide World of Sports. "I never knew what it was until I just found out in May that I have sickle cell ? 25 years. Now, I know why he's going through all those things I did."

Holmes was born with the sickle-cell trait, a genetically inherited blood disease. His son, Santonio III, has sickle-cell disease, which appears in one out of every 5,000 people, mostly affecting African-Americans. Steelers safety Ryan Clark also has the sickle-cell trait.

Following his game-winning touchdown catch in the Steelers' 27-23 win against Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII, Holmes auctioned the gloves he wore in the game and donated all of the proceeds ? $70,200 ? to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

"My seven-year-old is doing a lot better," Holmes said. "He's healthy. It's almost to the point it can be controlled. We didn't have enough money to keep me in and out of the hospital like I do now for him. So I had to deal with it.

"He definitely has to take medicine, probably for the rest of his life."

Steelers' Holmes spreading the message - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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