The San Diego Medical Community is Providing Free Surgeries to its Injured High School Students
August 29, 2018 — San Diego, CA.
The San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation hosted its annual Taste at the Cove, a five-star event where celebrity athletes and entrepreneurs gathered to network, dine and donate to an amazing cause. Over 200 local restaurants provided wine tastings and paired bites. Guests honored tennis legend Rod Laver, and the silent auction and donations raised over $350,000 for the Foundation. It was a star-studded event overlooking the La Jolla Cove at sunset, but more important than great food and views is the mission of this organization.
Taste at the Cove is just one of the fundraising activities hosted by The San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation, a non-profit that provides free medical services to injured San Diego student athletes in need.
Athletic scholarships are an incredibly important resource to give members of our community free college tuition, and a lucrative career in professional sports. However, sports can be a risky way for kids to bet their college dreams due to the high incidence of debilitating injuries. John’s Hopkins reports that over 3.5 million teens are injured in sports each year, an alarming statistic[1]. Without emergency medical care, many promising athletes, and athletic careers, are lost. This is why Dr. James Chao and Dr. David Chao set up the Foundation, to give promising athletes with injuries a second chance to make the pros.
The first student they rehabilitated was Reggie Bush, providing an emergency surgery for an otherwise debilitating knee injury he incurred in sixth grade, which would have left him unable to play sports again.
Since then, promising athletes in our community have been quietly rehabilitated from their injuries through the fundraising efforts and surgeries provided by the Foundation. All proceeds go toward simply covering the cost of these surgeries.
This year the group is taking their non-profit one step further through a joint sponsorship with new San Diego startup, WeShareMD. WeShareMD offers lease-free medical spaces to any doctor or group wishing to open or expand their practice at a starting rate of only $300. Their goal in the for-profit world is to make it easy for any doctor to expand their practice, or open their own, at little to no cost so that doctors can better serve our community. In addition to jointly sponsoring the Foundation, WeShareMD is donating its medical spaces for the Foundation’s procedures.
For more information on the San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation visit sdsmf.com and to learn more about WeShareMD visit wesharemd.com or call 1–832-WeShare.
[1]https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/pediatrics/sports_injury_statistics_90,P02787
