The 29th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner a Huge Success for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Celebrities, sports legends, corporate leaders and more joined NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti, his son Marc, and Event Chair Mark Dalton as they hosted a sold out crowd in celebration of the 29^th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner presented by Carnival Corporation & PLC and the Carnival Foundation. Held at New York's famed Waldorf Astoria on September 29, the dinner paid tribute to philanthropic heroes and sports icons that inspire and motivate those affected by spinal cord injuries, and raised important funds for research and the Human Clinical Trials Initiative.  Tom Brokaw of NBC News served as Master of Ceremonies of the dinner not only to support the efforts of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, but to honor this year's Great Sports Legends: Hakeem Olajuwon, Warren Sapp, Pedro Martinez, Joe Sakic, Bill Cowher, Mary Lou Retton and Lauryn Williams. Music legend Smokey Robinson treated guests to a very special performance.

Professional Golfer Erik Compton, a two-time heart transplant patient who finished runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Open Championships, was the 2014 Inspiration Award recipient. Seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill and retired NFL Pro-Bowl running back Calvin Hill each received the 2014 Buoniconti Fund Award. Bill Simon, former President and CEO of Walmart U.S., received The Buoniconti Fund's Outstanding Business Leader Award.

"We are changing medical history with five FDA approved clinical trials, including a revolutionary Phase 1 clinical trial transplanting human Schwann Cells to treat patients with recent spinal cord injuries. The Miami Project has not let hard work stand in its way to find a cure. This ongoing, groundbreaking work could not have happened without the funds raised each year at the annual Great Sports Legends Dinner," said Nick Buoniconti, Founder of The Buoniconti Fund. "The continued passionate support for The Buoniconti Fund and The Miami Project means a great deal to our mission to find a cure for paralysis."

The annual event benefits The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis and raises funds to support the cutting-edge spinal cord injury research done by researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Since its inception in 1985, the Great Sports Legends Dinner has honored more than 300 sports legends and honorees and has raised more than $100 million for The Miami Project's spinal cord injury research programs.

Additional notables in attendance included: Grammy winning Producer and Musician Emilio Estefan, eighteen-time Grammy Award-winning singer Aretha Franklin, actor Christian Slater (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Interview with the Vampire), five-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Nadia Comaneci, 10-time Olympic swimming medalist Gary Hall, Jr., Friday Night Lights' Brad Leland, NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson, NHL Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, former NY Giants linebacker Brian Kelly, actor Colin Egglesfield (Something Borrowed, The Client List) and many, many more.

Sponsors for the evening are: Carnival Corporation & PLC and the Carnival Foundation, Tiffany & Co., HBO Sports, Barton G. and Diageo.

For more information about The Buoniconti Fund, please visit: www.thebuonicontifund.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

About The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Buoniconti Fund: In 1985, Barth A. Green, M.D. and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick's son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Today, The Miami Project is the world's most comprehensive spinal cord injury (SCI) research center, and a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  The Miami Project's international team is housed in the Lois Pope LIFE Center and includes more than 300 scientists, researchers, clinicians and support staff who take innovative approaches to the challenges of brain and spinal cord injury.  Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, a non-profit organization devoted to assisting The Miami Project achieve its national and international goals.

The Miami Project's Christine E. Lynn Clinical Trials Initiative is designed to take discoveries found to be successful in laboratory studies and fast track them to human studies. The Miami Project team currently has five FDA approved SCI clinical trials underway. Our FDA approved Schwann cell transplantation trial, the only one of its kind in the world, is changing the spinal cord injury field and sets an important foundation for future Miami Project cell replacement therapies.

Miami Project researchers are conducting or participating in more than eighteen clinical trials for spinal cord and brain injuries, and have more than a dozen clinical research studies underway. Because of our clinical and research expertise, The Miami Project is confident that we have the knowledge and resolve to initiate additional clinical trials that will help us continue to responsibly and safely take these important steps into humans. For more information, please visit: www.thebuonicontifund.com.

Media Contact:
Scott Roy
305-243-8939
[email protected]

SOURCE The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis