Athletes Launch Campaign To Honor COVID19 Nurses
May 8, 2020
Sports stars are coming together to honor front-line medical workers by plastering the names of emergency-room doctors on their game-day jerseys as part of the “The Real Heroes Project,” which is raising money for COVID-19 research.
The campaign, launched on National Nurses Day, is the culmination of an unprecedented collaboration among sports groups from the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, WWE, Nascar, the Women’s Tennis Association and Electronic Arts, among others.
The PSA features more than two dozen athletes, including New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, World Cup soccer winner Carli Lloyd, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and WWE’s Triple H.
Professional athletes are taking the lead, with those in the video and their teammates making digital tributes and sharing them on social media. The athletes starring in the PSA, some of whom are honoring family members and personal friends, told Adweek that they wanted to turn the tables for those who are saving lives and risking their own.
“I can’t imagine everything they are seeing day in and day out, and how stressful life must be for them,” says George Kittle, All-Pro tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, who cheers on his friend from high school and college, Kari Mueller, a registered nurse at Advocate Aurora Health in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I hope that all of the people that are risking their lives every day to protect and treat those in need know how much we admire and look up to them,” Kittle says. “And I hope this is a small way to show how much all of us care and appreciate everything they’re doing.”
Victoria Azarenka, a WTA Grand Slam singles champion, is honoring deceased nurse Araceli Buendia Ilagan, who “dedicated nearly 33 years of her life to working with the most critically ill hospital patients” in Miami, Florida. “As she was fighting to keep many others’ loved ones alive at the Jackson Memorial ICU unit, she became ill herself with Covid-19 and passed away.”
The WWE’s Charlotte Flair says registered nurse Jill Cardone (Hartford Healthcare in Connecticut) is “an inspiration to me. She makes me want to be a better person.” By revamping the robe she wears on competition nights, Flair says, “I thought it would be a unique and memorable way to honor her.”
Two tennis stars, Coco Gauff and Bianca Andreescu, are celebrating close friends, while another top-ranked singles player Ashleigh Barty is shouting out her sister, registered nurse Sara Coppolecchia.
Meanwhile, WTA two-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka calls attention to Dr. Shamsah Amersi, an obstetrician in Los Angeles, California who is “not only delivering babies in such difficult circumstances, but in her spare time she is working around the clock to find extra PPE for her colleagues and to feed those that can’t get meals on their own.”
True #SameTeam spirt.