Robert Seebold didn’t want to make a big deal of it all —  he certainly didn’t want people to feel bad for him. So when he called his children downstairs and sat them on the couch, he just stated the facts.

“I’m just going to be a little different,” Robert said. He ensured he’d be fine, that the family would get through this. But, just a sophomore in high school, Owen Seebold was confused. His father’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis immediately led him to expect the worst. Seebold ran up to his computer for answers: What happens to him? How will it affect him? Will my father die?

“At first it wasn’t more of a ‘How can I help?’ It was more of a ‘How’s he feeling?’” Seebold said. “I think I wanted to help immediately, but I don’t think I realized how much I could help — as I do now.”

Four years later, Seebold scrolled through a Facebook notification asking if he wanted to start a fundraiser for his birthday. In honor of his dad, a former member of the 1988 Syracuse national championship team, Seebold started a campaign to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. The original goal was set at $500, according to Seebold’s Facebook page, but the donations closed with $9,023 raised before Robert’s former teammate Brett Jefferson added $10,000 of his own.

As the campaign grew in publicity, Syracuse men’s lacrosse featured Seebold at halftime of SU’s Feb. 24 matchup with Army. Though Seebold has yet to record a point in seven appearances this season, the success of the fundraiser is representative of the platform given to student-athletes around the country, increasing the importance of individual activism.

“I’m not a star player or anything like that,” Seebold said. “I wasn’t really expecting for it to be that popular.”

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that creates lesions on a person’s brain and spine. The disease strips the nervous system of its outer-lining and limits the brain’s ability to move certain parts of the body. MS manifests differently in everyone it affects, and there are three forms of the disease: relax-and-remitting (recurring but nonconstant symptoms), secondary-progressive (a form that gradually develops worsening symptoms) and primary-progressive (a constant condition that gradually worsens from contraction).

The symptoms come in various ways: some lose the ability to walk, others temporarily lose function of their arms and more wake up with no vision in one eye, uncertain they will gain it back. When EJ Levy started MS Hope for a Cure following her diagnosis in 2002, there were three known medications to limit MS symptoms. She allocated a lot of her early funds from the campaign to stem cell research, and as of Wednesday, there are 15 drugs on the market — the first FDA-approved drug to treat PPMS, OCREVUS, was passed on March 28. But the cause’s reach has suffered because the disease is generally nonfatal in healthy adults. For Robert, his secondary-progressive state limited his daily activity and forced him to retire early.

“I don’t get around real well,” Robert said.

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Seebold’s donation is just one of many campaigns that MS Hope for a Cure takes on as it prepares for its fourth day-long event, MS Hope Day on April 7. After his birthday campaign, Seebold was inspired. One day, he wants to create his own nonprofit.

Ever since he was a kid, Seebold had been connected to various causes. He dedicated some high school games to his aunt, Ellen, who had breast cancer, and helped raise money for a former high school classmate who died of cancer.

When he was in middle school, his parents received a check in the mail from Family Legacy Missions International, an organization in which donors can fund the welfare of a child in Africa. Seebold signed up without telling his parents, and used his allowance money for his first donation.

Now at Syracuse, Owen calls home three or four times a week. He doesn’t worry how his father is dealing with his condition anymore — he just calls to talk. A few days before the Orange’s matchup with Army, Seebold sent a text to his parents.

“Hey, I just started a fundraiser for MS for my birthday,” Seebold texted. “ACC Network just interviewed me for it. Watch it at halftime.”

From their home in Texas, Robert and his wife, Brandie, sat on the couch in their living room and flipped on their Apple TV. Owen didn’t score or assist in the game, and he hardly appeared in Syracuse’s 10-8 win. But he graced the screen at halftime. At home, Robert’s eyes swelled.

“I consider myself pretty lucky,” Robert said, “to have a kid with that kind of heart.”

Published on April 3, 2019 at 11:15 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary