Big Challenge Off The Course

No longer is Ernie Els who you think he is. The sweet golf swing, the easy demeanor, the popularity? All just a mask.


He is helpless.

Early this spring Els made an announcement. The perfect family photo - Ernie, wife Liezl, 8-year-old daughter Samantha, and 5-year-old son Ben - isn't perfect.

Ben suffers from autism.

And Daddy can't make it go away.

"You want your kid to be a normal kid, like everybody," Els said. "You want your kid to play sports and you want your kid to do normal things, and when it doesn't happen you kind of ask questions. You want to know the answer. And there's no simple, straight answer."

"You can't but feel for the kid more than yourself because you know how lucky you are," Els said. "I'm talking about myself. To be normal and to do normal things and to basically live your dream, and now you've got a situation.

"That's the thing that really worries me, what's the future going to hold? He's still quite small and young, where young kids really accept him. But what happens when he gets older? Then you're really going to see the difference in his behavior and things like he does. You just hope that you can do the best for his future."

Ben suffers from autism. Daddy wants to make it go away.

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I have had the pleasure of becoming friends with a little boy named Parker who is Autistic. His mom Shelly is truly inspirational. Her efforts to help her son are tireless and she even runs a foundation called The Parker Autism Foundation that helps provide other autistic children scholarships for therapy that will help them advance.

In selecting my topic today I am mainly trying to say, things like this can happen to any parent. All the money in the world does not make the heartache easier, grant it, it does help with treatment, but Ernie and his wife still can't buy for their son what the "average" parent of a kid with autism can't either - and that is "normalcy".

Many big athletes deal with illnesses and conditions that their children have:

Boomer Easiason - his son has Cystic Fibrosis

Dan Marino - his son is autistic

Jim Kelly - his son had Globoid-Cell Leukodystrophy (Krabbe disease) - Unfortunatley he lost his battle in August 2005 at the age of 8.

Doug Flutie - his son is autistic

I am sure there are many more - the point is no one is immune. They key about the above mentioned gentlemen is that they promote awareness and fund raising for the "CAUSE" and in turn that helps those with out the means these families have get help for their children.