CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina inadvertantly published the incorrect number in its football game notes this week for donating funds to help find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The correct digits: 90999. Text the word "cure", and fans will automatically pledge $5 via their cell phone bills.
A team spokesman said the school was given the wrong number by the organization.
Eleven ACC coaches — including UNC's Butch Davis, N.C. State's Tom O'Brien, Duke's David Cutcliffe and Wake Forest's Jim Grobe — will wear a "Coach to Cure MD" armband during their games this weekend. The American Football Coaches Association has endorsed the nation-wide project, and football fans can support the program by donating online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org, or via text messaging.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood, according to a news release about the AFCA project. Because the Duchenne gene is found on the X-chromosome, it primarily affects boys and occurs across all races and cultures.
Boys and young men with Duchenne lack dystrophin, a protein critical to the structural stability of muscle fibers. Patients develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
