Fired radio hosts, Steve Gleason wrote on his organization's Facebook page Tuesday that he accepts the apologies of the three Atlanta radio disc jockeys who mocked his Lou Gehrig's disease in a skit Monday morning and later were fired.
The 36-year-old Gleason, a former safety who played for the New Orleans Saints from 2000-06 and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2011, thanked "the public for their support" on the Facebook page for Team Gleason, his non-profit organization that works to help others with ALS.
"'Defend Team Gleason' now has been officially redefined. Additionally, the DJs have provided genuine apology. Received and accepted. We have all made mistakes in this life. How we learn from our mistakes is the measure of who we are," he wrote.
"I think everyone can learn from this event. Its clear to me that, on a national & global scale, ALS is not understood, which is part of why its under funded and largely ignored. In the past 36 hours lots of people have been talking. Lets talk about this... There are zero treatments for ALS. If you take any action as a result of this event, I prefer it to be action to end ALS," he wrote, asking the public to visit his organization's website to see what Team Gleason is doing to fight ALS.
Patients who have the fatal disease ALS lose the ability to speak, move and eat, which has happened to Gleason. He uses a technology that allows him to use his eyes to write. He wrote a column for SI.com on Monday detailing his life with the disease, his interactions with his 19-month-old son Rivers, and his efforts to help others with ALS.
790 The Zone hosts Nick Cellini, Steak Shapiro and Chris Dimino were fired Monday after a segment Monday morning in which two of the on-air personalities took a call from a third host who pretended to be Gleason by using a voice that sounded automated -- mimicking another ALS patient, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.
All three took to Twitter on Monday evening to apologize to fans and others who criticized the segment.
2 years ago
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