‘Sharing Miracles’ Television Program to Feature UConn Huskies Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun

‘Sharing Miracles’ Television Program to Feature UConn Huskies Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25  — Each Sunday throughout March, Sharing Miracles, a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients, will feature Hall-of-Famer Jim Calhoun, head coach of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team. Sharing Miracles now airs on nearly 260 television stations across the United States.

An NCAA Division I coach for 37 years, Calhoun is one of the most successful basketball coaches in college history, with nearly 800 career wins. This success has not only led him to two NCAA tournament championships, in 1999 and 2004; an NIT championship, in 1988; and six Big East tournament championships, it has also led him to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, where he was enshrined in 2005.

Known for his tenacity, Calhoun attributes his success to the inspiration that he draws from the hundreds of ball players that he has coached. In this month’s episode, he says, “Seeing kids do extraordinary things, I feed off that and I learn from that. Winning or losing a basketball game is really small, very, very small in comparison with winning or losing at life.”

UConn alum and current Washington Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler says of his former coach, “He’s a father figure. He really taught me that basketball is a reflection of life, and I had to be a professional on and off the court. Everything that he instilled in me at UConn I take with me.”

Indeed, Calhoun has been a winner on the court and in life, as a championship-winning coach and as a generous philanthropist. What’s more, he has also survived three bouts with prostate and skin cancer.

Each time he was diagnosed, he characteristically took control and chose an aggressive course of action: “I said to my doctor, ‘It doesn’t belong in my body. I’m willing to fight just like I’ll fight anything else, like I fight on the court, like I’ve fought all my life. I want this out of my body as quickly as possible.'”

Now, he speaks out about his experience with cancer and encourages others to seek regular screening. In fact, after he announced his diagnosis with prostate cancer, a record number of men in Connecticut sought screening, as well. “That put a smile on my face, because people were being made aware of something that could often be taken care of,” he says.

Speaking in this month’s episode, Merck scientist and prostate cancer researcher Dr. Scot Ebbinghaus stresses the importance of early detection: “The good news about prostate cancer is that when it’s detected early, it’s often curable. Many more men are diagnosed with prostate cancer than die from it.”

Still, it is a real threat to the thousands of American diagnosed each year. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 200,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S., and more than one million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed. However, there is some good news. Today, America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are doing their part to develop new methods of treating those cancers, with 750 new medicines in development for cancer, including 88 for prostate cancer and 64 for skin cancer.

Upcoming episodes of Sharing Miracles will feature Emmy Award-winning actress Christina Applegate, star of the ABC hit comedy Samantha Who?; Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Ditka, who battles heart disease; Basketball Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins, who has diabetes; and World Series champion and Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, who overcame lymphoma to pitch a no-hitter in the major leagues.

Previous episodes of Sharing Miracles have featured Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden, a breast cancer advocate; Grammy Award-winning country music superstar Naomi Judd, who overcame Hepatitis C; Emmy Award-winning actor Joey Pantoliano, who suffers from clinical depression; Super Bowl Champion and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, who has asthma; Emmy-nominated former star of Family Ties Meredith Baxter, who survived breast cancer; Olympic gold medal winners Mark Spitz (high cholesterol), Bruce Jenner (attention deficit disorder) and Greg Louganis (HIV); syndicated television talk show host Montel Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis; actor and Leave It To Beaver star Jerry Mathers, who is affected by diabetes; pop icon and Broadway star Deborah Gibson, who has suffered from devastating anxiety attacks; and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and Super Bowl Champion Len Dawson, who survived prostate cancer.

The new episode debuts March 1. Sharing Miracles airs on Sunday mornings on the following network-affiliated stations:

• WDCA-TV (MyTV), Washington, DC, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• WPHL-TV (MyTV), Philadelphia, PA, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• WUTB-TV (MyTV), Baltimore, MD, 9 am. – 9:30 a.m.
• KEYE-TV (CBS), Austin, TX, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• WXIN-TV (FOX), Indianapolis, IN, 11:30 a.m. – noon
• KUCW-TV (CW), Salt Lake City, UT, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• KPDX-TV (MyTV), Portland, OR, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• KVMY-TV (MyTV), Las Vegas, NV, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• KDGN-TV (CW), Denver, CO, 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
• KABB-TV (FOX), San Antonio, TX, 8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
• WNAB-TV (CW), Nashville, TN, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• WCTX-TV (MyTV), Hartford/New Haven, CT, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• WRAZ-TV (FOX), Raleigh, NC, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• WSYX-TV (ABC), Columbus, OH, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• WNYA-TV (MyTV), Albany, NY, 8 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
• KAME-TV (MyTV), Reno, NV, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• KTXL-TV (FOX), Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, CA, 6:30 a.m. – 7 a.m.
• WWL-TV (CBS), New Orleans, LA, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• WTWC-TV (NBC), Tallahassee, FL, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• WCIA-TV (CBS), Springfield/Champaign/Urbana/Decatur, IL, 10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
• WBRZ-TV (ABC), Baton Rouge, LA, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• KTKA-TV (ABC), Topeka, KS, 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• WRLH-TV (FOX), Richmond, VA, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• WNAC-TV (FOX), Providence, RI, 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• WHTM-TV (ABC), Harrisburg, PA, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• WNCF-TV (ABC), Montgomery, AL, 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
• WLAJ-TV (ABC), Lansing, MI, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• WACH-TV (FOX), Columbia, SC, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• WAPT-TV (ABC), Jackson, MS, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• WOWK-TV (CBS), Charleston/Huntington, WV, 11:30 a.m. – noon
• WMTW-TV (ABC), Portland/Augusta, ME, 11:30 a.m. – noon
• KHBB-TV (ABC), Helena, MT, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• WMBD-TV (CBS), Peoria, IL, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• WOI-TV (ABC), Des Moines, IA, 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
• WHBF-TV (CBS), Rock Island, IL/Davenport, IA, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• KLRT-TV (FOX), Little Rock, AR, 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
• KDLT-TV (NBC), Sioux Falls, SD, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• KBMY-TV (ABC), Minot/Bismarck, ND, 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• KLKN-TV (ABC), Lincoln, NE, 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• KFBB-TV (ABC), Great Falls, MT, 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• KDEV-TV (ABC), Cheyenne, WY, 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• WTOV-TV (ABC), Rockford, IL, 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
• KGEM-TV (NBC), Quincy, IL, 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• KTBY-TV (FOX), Anchorage, AK, 6 a.m. – 6:30 a.m.
• WSIL-TV (ABC), Carbondale, IL/Paducah, KY/Cape Girardeau, MO, 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

The show also airs on 218 community broadcast stations across the country and is available worldwide for viewing in its entirety at www.sharingmiracles.com. For free DVDs of Sharing Miracles, please contact the PhRMA press line at 202-835-3460 or go to www.sharingmiracles.com.

Community stations airing Sharing Miracles are located in the following cities: Anchorage, AK; Decatur, AL; Harrison, AR; Mountain Home, AR; Casa Grande, AZ; Chino Valley, AZ; Anaheim, CA; Compton, CA; Del Mar, CA; Gilroy, CA; Hayward, CA; Pacifica, CA; Pasadena, CA; Petaluma, CA; San Andreas, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Aurora, CO; Golden, CO; Longmont, CO; Thornton, CO; Bridgeport, CT; Hamden, CT; Hartford, CT; Madison, CT; North Haven, CT; Plainville, CT; Simsbury, CT; Brooksville, FL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Fort Myers, FL; MacDill AFB, FL; Tampa, FL; Palm Coast, FL; Atlanta, GA; Dallas, GA; Douglasville, GA; Fort Oglethorpe, GA; Hilo, HI; Des Moines, IA; Mount Vernon, IA; Olin, IA; Muscatine, IA; Addison, IL; Aurora, IL; Batavia, IL; Glen Ellyn, IL; Lake Forest, IL; Naperville, IL; Romeoville, IL; Urbana, IL; Wheaton, IL; Bloomington, IN; Connersville, IN; Fort Wayne, IN; Lawrence, KS; Covington, KY; Highland Heights, KY; Louisville, KY; Bossier City, LA; Houma, LA; Lafayette, LA; Mandeville, LA; New Orleans, LA; Amherst, MA; Arlington, MA; Boston, MA; Brookline, MA; Carver, MA; Chelmsford, MA; Dracut, MA; Easthampton, MA; Foxboro, MA; Holden, MA; Hopkinton, MA; Leominster, MA; Lexington, MA; Longmeadow, MA; Lynn, MA; Marion, MA; Sandwich, MA; Worcester, MA; Easton, MD; Greenbelt, MD; Largo, MD; Rockville, MD; Bridgton, ME; Brunswick, ME; Madison, ME; Mexico, ME; Ann Arbor, MI; Cadillac, MI; Farmington Hills, MI; Holland, MI; Kalamazoo, MI; Lake Orion, MI; Manistee, MI; Portage, MI; Romeo, MI; Waterford, MI; Wyandotte, MI; Blaine, MN; Bloomington, MN; Champlin, MN; Coon Rapids, MN; Duluth, MN; Fergus Falls, MN; Hibbing, MN; Hutchinson, MN; Minneapolis, MN; Rosemont, MN; Spring Park, MN; Stillwater, MN; White Bear Lake, MN; Columbia, MO; Ste. Genevieve, Mol Hillsboro, MS; Vicksburg, MS; Helena, MT; Albemarle, NC; Charlotte, NC; Knightdale, NC; Fargo, ND; Grand Island, NE; Hastings, NE; Omaha, NE; Claremont, NH; Derry, NH; Durham, NH; Londonderry, NH; Manchester, NH; North Conway, NH; Wolfeboro, NH; Bloomfield, NJ; Metuchen, NJ; Princeton, NJ; Statewide, NJ; Albuquerque, NM; Los Alamos, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Taos, NM; Carson City, NV; Minden, NV; Chappaqua, NY; Fairport, NY; Staten Island, NY; Tivoli, NY; Webster, NY; Athens, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Defiance, OH; Fairborn, OH; Hudson; OH; Macedonia, OH; Medina, OH; Middletown, OH; Norwood, OH; Troy, OH; Perry, OK; Oregon City, OR; Silverton, OR; Ardmore, PA; Berwyn, PA; Bethel Park, PA; Gettysburg, PA; McMurray, PA; Moon Township, PA; Pottstown, PA; Reading, PA; Wayne, PA; York, PA; Franklin, TN; Germantown, TN; Murfreesboro, TN; College Station, TX; Denton, TX; Houston, TX; Kingsville, TX; Cedar City, UT; Logan, UT; Blacksburg, VA; Herndon, VA; Barre, VT; Bellow Falls, VT; Bristol, VT; Burlington, VT; Hyde Park, VT; Manchester Center, VT; Middlebury, VT; Newport, VT; Springfield, VT; Waitsfield, VT; Bainbridge Island, WA; Bremerton, WA; Ellensburg, WA; Kent, WA; Longview, WA; Port Townsend, WA; Seattle, WA; Toppenish, WA; Dodgeville, WI; Hartford, WI; Janesville, WI; Lake Mills, WI; Madison, WI; Muskego, WI; New London, WI; Reedsburg, WI; River Falls, WI; Superior, WI; Waterloo, WI; Whitehall, WI; Wisconsin Rapids, WI; and Summersville, WV.

The show’s corresponding Web site, www.sharingmiracles.com, is an interactive forum for people to relate their own personal stories of hope and survival. Every patient’s battle is unique, but the collective power of shared experiences can offer great help and courage to others who are fighting for their lives.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) helps uninsured and financially-struggling patients access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free. To find out if they may qualify for help, patients should call toll-free 1-888-4PPA-NOW to speak with a trained specialist or visit www.pparx.org.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $44.5 billion in 2007 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide research and investment reached a record $58.8 billion in 2007.

PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org

For information on stories of hope and survival, visit: http://sharingmiracles.com/

For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit: http://www.innovation.org

For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit: http://www.pparx.org

For information on the danger of imported drugs, visit: http://www.buysafedrugs.info