text: Kayak Bass Fishing and Helping Cure TPI Day 1: Hearing about a Bass Angler's Family's Needs - John In The WildJohn In The Wild | John E. Phillips' Outdoor Journals
  08/02/2021 Comments (0) Bass Fishing, Fishing Advice, FIshing Tournaments
  Kayak Bass Fishing and Helping Cure TPI Day 1: Hearing about a Bass Angler's Family's Needs
  Editor's Note: Often small kindnesses have the ability to change the world, and such is the case when Joe McElroy of Cullman, Alabama, announced he was donating his $5000, 2nd place winnings at the B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series National Championship (https://www.bassmaster.com/) at Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas recently to a fellow kayaker's family. When I read this press release, I had to know more about the story that caused McElroy to donate this money to a fellow competitor, Jason Borofka, for his young son, JT Borofka, who has Triosephosphate Isomerase Deficiency. Only seven people in the world have the disease, TPI, and researchers are working frantically to find a cure and help for people like JT. My friend Emily Harley, B.A.S.S. Communications Manager, did an outstanding job telling the story, and with her permission I'm including her play-by-play coverage of the event.
  Angler Joe McElroy announced he was donating his $5,000 winnings to help a fellow competitor's young son who was living with a very-rare disease. McElroy says, "I was in the right place and had the opportunity, so it just came together."
  During the Top-10 award ceremony on stage at the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk, seventh-place finisher Jason Borofka, of Lavon, Texas, shared that his two-year-old son J.T. suffered from Triosephosphate Isomerase Deficiency. An ultrarare disorder, TPI causes a shortage of red blood cells (anemia), movement problems, increased susceptibility to infection and muscle weakness that can affect breathing and heart functions.
  According to https://www.savejt.com/, the website that Borofka and his wife Tara run, fewer than 70 TPI Deficiency cases ever have been reported, so information is slim. The site states that J.T. is the first person in his birth state of California to be diagnosed with this disease.
  McElroy was so moved by what he heard that he didn't hesitate to follow his heart. "The prize money was a gift and a blessing to me from God, and I wanted to pass it on," McElroy said. "I hadn't met Jason, until we had the Top-10 meeting; I heard his appeal for help just moments before when he accepted his seventh-place award. Jason was overwhelmed and thankful. He was very appreciative."
  "He really inspired a lot of people," Borofka said. "Many people from the Dallas-Fort Worth area have contacted us wanting to help. My phone has been blowing-up. Donations just since the Kayak Championship have grown. Honestly, what Joe did has been a blessing."
  McElroy's donation also inspired TourneyX, other anglers and various organizations to create the Save JT Benefit Tournament, an ongoing virtual event that ran July 1-31 and at this writing has almost 1,000 people signed-up.
  Tomorrow: Winning 2nd Place Kayak Bass Fishing with Joe McElroy
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