Craig Carton On Par To Take A Drive At Tourette's With Tic Toc Stop
By Jake Brown
About two years ago, WFAN's Craig Carton and four friends decided to start up a foundation that would change the lives of those affected with Tourette's syndrome.
That foundation would be Tic Toc Stop. Tuesday marked the second annual Tic Toc Stop Celebrity Golf Outing at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Carton and two of his children have Tourette's, and those with the disorder have to fight the tics that come with it. The co-host of "Boomer and Carton" has come a long way in the search for a cure, and Tuesday's event was another step in the right direction. There were nearly 100 golfers and over 125 attendees.
"It was 35 percent more than last year. We raised a lot more money," said Carton. "Even more so than the money we raised, just awareness for what the cause is to people who have never heard of us before and now know what's going on."
The non-profit foundation has made considerable progress over the first two years. They started a clinical study at the University of Tennessee that has seen over 30 patients and will see 65 total.
"Once those results of those studies come in and the results are positive, the FDA will bless us to make the appliance that we have made available to dentists nationwide and other medical practitioners," Carton said, "So someone who has Tourette's doesn't have to rely on a neurologist solely to diagnose them and treat them, because the treatment from a neurologist is always a neurological drug."
All money raised through these events are going to two distinct things.
"One (goes to) Camp Carton, which is in our second year," said the co-host of WFAN's and CBS Sports Network's popular morning show." We doubled enrollment. It's a week-long summer camp, sleepover camp for seven days up in Rhinebeck, N.Y. We'll have nearly 50 kids that will be in that camp. The money goes towards this clinical study at the University of Tennessee, because at the end of the day, we think we have the key that unlocks the door to making life better for kids with Tourette's.
"The only way to be allowed to use that key is to have a successful clinical study, and that takes money. It's an almost half-million dollar endeavor to do it. We're six months into it, and we need to make sure we raise a lot of money to pay for it."
Tuesday was one of those essential fundraisers to get them closer to that half-million dollars. The 98 golfers were made up of foursomes and fivesomes, which included some local New York celebrities: John Franco, John Starks, Mookie Wilson, Wally Szczerbiak, Chris Simms, Chris Algieri, Brian Jones and Robert Wuhl. More events like this are coming up, and it's realistic that by next year's golf outing Tic Toc Stop could have the money to complete the clinical study.
"We'll have a big comedy night like we did last year," Carton said. "Jerry Seinfeld was a part of it last year. We'll see if he does it again this year. Not saying he will, but hopefully. We'll do that at Gotham. We'll have the big gala event at Intrepid. That will be our first foray into having a jacket-and-tie nighttime New York City event, which will be significant for us if we pull it off."
For the actual play on the course Tuesday, you might be surprised by who played better than some of those celebrities.
"I was surprised by me. I played really well today," said Carton. "We came in first, low net, and it wasn't rigged. Listen, John Starks is a great guy and a great golfer, so I'm never surprised when he wins. But it was great. I saw a lot of guys out there, I don't know how they got the scores they claimed they got, but they probably would say the same thing about me."
Anyone who sunk a hole-in-one on the eighth hole would take home a brand-new Mercedes-Benz. Indeed, Carton beautifully drove one that landed just 10 feet from the hole. Not too shabby.
You can visit TicTocStop.com for more details and to donate.
To check out all the photos from Tuesday's event, go to JeffreyAugerPhotography.com/tictocstop.
Follow Jake on Twitter @JakeBrownRadio.
