Pickleball tournament supports a good cause

This story has been edited to correct that Brown had a seizure, not a stroke. The Southeast Missourian regrets the error.

Last April, Curtis Brown of Jackson had a seizure while playing pickleball at the Jackson Civic Center.

He lost some memory. Later, scans showed a mass in Brown’s left temporal lobe near the communication center of the brain. A biopsy revealed a malignant tumor, which was removed in May.

Now, Brown’s pickleball pals are hosting a pickleball tournament to help others who are fighting the same disease.

If you’re not familiar with pickleball, it is something of a ping pong and tennis mashup. It is played with paddles and a net on a gymnasium floor, usually played with a partner.

Three-hundred and twenty individuals have signed up to participate in the tournament, to be held Saturday and Sunday at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

“We are collecting donations, selling T-shirts and raffling tickets for a couple large items, including a beautiful painting of the Emerson Bridge,” said Lynn Schreiner, a friend of Brown’s who is helping organize the event.

“The awesome thing about this fundraiser is that Curt has requested 100 percent of the proceeds go toward glioblastoma research at the Washington University School of Medicine (in St. Louis),” Schreiner said. “Research for this is severely lacking in progress.”

We just can’t get enough of stories like this. Not only were Brown’s friends inspired to host a tournament of the sport he loves, but Brown insisted the tournament go to research that might serve others.

We hope the tournament is a wonderful success.