By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
There were some well-known sport figures at Conte’s for a fundraiser Wednesday night, but perhaps none has had to compete as hard as the young man sitting at the end of the bar with his mother standing right behind him.
He is Derek DiGregorio, a 17-year-old Princeton High School student living with a rare disease that has a long name and devastating consequences. Some 120 people came to raise nearly more than $100,000 to support research for a cure of that disease, called ataxia-telangiectasia or A-T for short, during an evening that brought out the extended family of Princeton University athletics.
The event was billed “A Night With Coaches,” three of them in fact: Pete Carril, the retired men’s basketball coach at the university; John Thompson III, a former Princeton basketball player, basketball coach and now men’s basketball coach at Georgetown; and Jason Garrett, who played football at Princeton and is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Guests paid a $1,000 a ticket to hear them in a panel discussion and later to ask questions.
“The people in this room are amazing,” said Steve DiGregorio, the father of Derek. “My family and I are overwhelmed by this.”
The evening was put together with the three coaches volunteering their time. Mr. Garrett is on vacation, while Mr. Thompson took time from being on the road from his recruiting commitments. Mr. Carril lives locally.
Mingling inside the crowded restaurant were the likes of university athletic director Mollie Marcoux, head football coach Bob Surace, head basketball coach Mitch Henderson, former athletic director Gary Walters, former Tiger and NFL running back Keith Elias, among a bevy of others. The fundraiser also doubled as a birthday party for Mr. Carril, who turned 85 July 10.
Overall, proceeds from Wednesday’s fundraiser combined with those from a comedy night on Saturday at the Princeton Arts Council for the same cause were due to bring in around $150,000.
The money will go toward research of the disease, said DiGregorio family friend Howard Levy, a former Princeton basketball player who is the head men’s basketball coach at Mercer County Community College.
“There are a few researchers throughout the world that are devoting their careers to studying A-T. It’s not a disease that the research is well-funded,” he said. “So we said if we can raise $100,000 plus, it’ll have a meaningful impact on the research. And I think the best thing we could do is push for a cure or for treatments.”
Mr. DiGregorio, known by his nickname Digger, is part of that Princeton University athletic family; he coached football as an assistant starting in the late 1980s, when Mr. Garrett played there as a quarterback. He and his wife, Nadia, have three sons, Zach, Derek and Aaron.
Derek was 12 ½ when, after being misdiagnosed several times, the family got confirmation of the diagnosis that he had the disease. When the family finally got the name of the condition, they went to the library to look it up. Mid-teens was the life span, Ms. DiGregorio said.
“When you get the diagnosis, there’s no manual. It’s bad enough that there’s no manual when you have kids, but there’s really no manual when you have a special needs kid, especially with a rare disease,” she said.
The A-T Children’s Project, the nonprofit beneficiary of the fundraiser, says on its website that the disease causes “progressive loss of muscle control, immune system problems, and a high rate of cancer.” The organization says it is aware of about 350 children nationally with A-T, which is caused by a “defective gene.”
In June, Derek came down with kidney stones. His mom remembers it was the first time he said to her that he thought he had a big problem, due to the severe pain in his side that would not go away.
“Derek’s the toughest person I know,” Mr. DiGregorio said.
His son finished his junior year at the high school and has an aide to assist him in school — not to mention a network of friends.
“He never complains,” Ms. DiGregorio said of her middle son.
“When I pray, I don’t pray for a cure. I don’t pray for a million dollars. I pray to continue to recognize the blessings that are right in front of my face,” she continued. “We are incredibly blessed by the support we’ve received from the entire Princeton community. It takes a village. And we have the most incredible village we could have.”
