Saget shared that his sister was 44 and a Philadelphia-area teacher when she was first diagnosed.
“Little did I know that just a few years later, my sister would be diagnosed with the disease.” “I said yes and hosted the event, which starred Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell, and others.” he said. Saget told NIH Medline Plus Magazine in 2019 that years before his sister got sick, he “got a call from someone I did not know asking me to host a comedy fundraiser for a disease I knew very little about.” Ironically, the comedian and actor first became involved with SRF prior to his sister’s diagnosis with the chronic disease, which can lead to a hardening and tightening of connective tissue and skin. The loss motivated him to raise money for research and advocate for a cure.
Saget, who died Sunday at the age of 65, lost his beloved sister, Gay, in 1994 following a battle with the rare autoimmune disease scleroderma.
