Chad Carr, the grandson of legendary college football coach Lloyd Carr, was just five years old when he died.
The precocious little boy from Michigan contracted diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a lethal and untreatable brain tumor which predominantly affects children under the age of nine.
The cruel disease is incredibly difficult to detect; most sufferers are diagnosed just months before they die.
Chad’s family had just 14 months with him after his diagnosis.
But now, a year-and-a-half after passing away, scientists are honoring his memory with a research paper, showing an analysis of his brain has led to a major breakthrough in understanding the genetic mutations that drive DIPG.
Experts say the unprecedented finding is the first concrete result of any study into the little-understood disease.
‘This was Chad’s final physical gift and to see that gift making a difference to DIPG research that will someday change the future for other children means so much to us,’ says Chad’s mom Tammi Carr.
