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     Shawn Dettenmaier started a charity when she was in the third grade. She adopted families for

Christmas, adopted shelters, filled food banks and provided meals, school supplies and

Christmas presents to thousands of families across Los Angeles, living in tents and cardboard

boxes. She was decorated by The Mayor of Los Angeles (twice) and put everything she had into

her community…

     In 2023, she was suddenly struck down and was fighting for her life at UCLA Medical Center.

She had been diagnosed with NMOSD, a rare disease that can blind you, paralyze you or even

kill you in a matter of minutes. (If you were given an NMOSD diagnosis in 2000, you had an

estimated four-years to live) …

     Every night, from her hospital room, she could see the decorative lights of the Children’s

Hospital next door. She knew there were children there, in pain, in the final days of their life with

terrified families living on prayers and hope. A very relatable situation and while she was at

UCLA, Shawn’s father actually collapsed and died in the hallway outside her hospital room from

a blood clot over both lungs (doctors believed this was from sleeping in a chair next to Shawn’s

hospital bed every night) The UCLA Emergency Room revived him, and he would recover in the

ICU while Shawn stayed on the 6th floor. It was a dark and terrified time…

But then, a miracle happened…

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     In June of 2023, Shawn was introduced to the Guthy-Jackson Foundation. Their work went

beyond caring for patients who deal with this deadly disease, they had invested in scientific

research that led to three highly-effective FDA approved therapies to give NMOSD patients a

fighting chance to retain their vision, fight off paralysis and have a shot at a future --and the

foundation is currently driving towards a cure but, not just for NMOSD, their work, which is

based around the discovery of a blood biomarker (by The Mayo Clinic in 2003) --a biomarker

unique ONLY to NMOSD patients-- appears to be a blueprint, not just for curing NMOSD but a

blueprint for curing other auto-immune disorders like MS, diabetes, lupus and even cancer.

Yes…CANCER! (research towards this innovative treatment, know as CAR-T therapy or

‘tolerization’ can be found on the Guthy-Jackson website www.guthyjacksonfoundation.org).

     Imagine, a world without cancer, lupus and MS! That world is quickly becoming our reality…

     A cure is now within reach, possibly within the next three to five years. We can get there sooner

with your help. We can save our loved ones, our children, everyone suffering from NMO, MS,

lupus and even cancer. possibly within the next three to five years. We can get there sooner with

your help. We can save our loved ones, our children, everyone suffering from NMO, MS, lupus

and even cancer.

     Combat Radio’s Christmas Carol for a Cure supports this very cause. Every dollar goes to this

mission! Money raised will go towards research and clinical trials (you can sign up for these

trials at usa.gov) and doctors from UCLA and Harvard Medical will be present at this event to

answer all your questions and discuss this research. HOPE-IS-HERE!

     And Shawn? Shawn still managed to graduate from CSUN with honors even though most of her

schoolwork was done from a hospital bed or an emergency room. She is now a graduate student

who makes it her mission to help others. In addition to Combat Radio’s Christmas Carol for a

Cure, she still holds her annual Christmas event for social services and hopes to always continue it.