Former Husky giving the gift of hope to his mom on Mother's Day

Former Husky giving the gift of hope to his mom on Mother`s Day

Former Husky giving the gift of hope to his mom on Mother`s Day

Former UW baseball player, Braden Bishop, who is now in the Mariners organization playing for the Clinton LumberKings, has set up a charity, the 4-MOM Foundation, to raise money for the Alzheimers cause. Bishop's mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers, which has had a huge impact on Bishop and his family.


“That’s probably one of the biggest things with Alzheimer’s. It’s so frustrating because I know who I was and I’m not able to accomplish what I used to,” Suzy Bishop said.

Added her son, Braden: “She's amazing. So caring, genuine, so selfless.”

Suzy Bishop was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s at age 52. At the time, her oldest son Braden was starting his junior year at the University of Washington.

“It was September of 2014. My dad called and I knew she had been tested for it but I had no idea what the call was going to be about and just to have them on speaker phone was just kind of like an intuition. I knew what was coming,” Braden said.

What was already shaping out to be a stressful year, turned upside down with that call. As the starting center fielder for the Huskies, Braden had his sights set on getting drafted that season.

“There were a couple weeks in there where I was just down," Braden said. "What am I going to do? I don’t know how to handle this - I mean I’m not even at home. Mom, do you want me to come home? Do you want me to stop playing baseball to be with you? I’ll put my career on hold for you because at the end of the day, my family matters more than what I’m doing on the field.”

Suzy wouldn’t let Braden quit, wanting him to stay in school, keep playing ball and follow his dreams. But it was what he did from there that changed everything.

“A day lift event. We called it 'Pulling for Alzheimer’s, pulling for a cure," Braden said.

The entire UW baseball team came out to the host gym in Renton along with 150 others including 40 dead lifters. Approximately $6,000 was raised and the “4 Mom Foundation” took life.

“It was humbling for sure. I can only imagine how alone she felt - but to see all these people rally around a cause, you know the cause that she’s going through, it was important," Braden said. "Not only for me but for her and I wanted to make sure she came out to the event so she could see, you’re not alone.”

And Braden wasn’t alone either. With the support of his teammates and UW family, the “4 Mom Foundation” was able to reach a broader audience with an opposing team even sporting the slogan in a special Mother’s Day game.

“That’s when I really was like, 'Man, I definitely have a voice here so I’m going to try and take this as far as I can," Braden said.

It’s inspired Suzy Bishop as well to share her fight against the incurable disease by being the subject of a documentary with her own production house.

Braden is now playing baseball for the Clinton Lumberkings, the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners who drafted the 22-year-old in the third round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft.

“My goal has always been to make it to the major leagues," Braden said. "It’s still been the same goal. I don’t know if this puts a rush on it, like I need to make it there sooner - but it’s definitely in the back of my mind. I don’t know when this could end, you know I don’t know when this could take its toll when she can’t travel anymore and when she can’t be at my games anymore, you know when it’s too disorienting to be around that many people. So it’s definitely in the back of my mind and I want to get there so she can see it."

Braden tells me it’s definitely made him tougher and realized what’s important in life - that thanks to his mom and her fight, he’s finding courage in her strength.

“The more people know that this didn’t break her, didn’t break my family, that other people can have hope," he said. "I think a lot of people can have a lot of tough situations in life, whether it’s a disease, it’s a circumstance... you know there’s always two roads you can take - the one that’s the easy road I’m just going to let this defeat me and defeat my family, defeat my career, defeat me as a person... Or you can take the other one where it builds you up and makes you the person you are.”

And this is why Braden has made it his mission to share his mom’s story and continue to raise awareness through his 4-Mom Foundation.

“If I can give some sort of hope because there’s not a lot in this disease - if I can give some sort of hope to people, then that’s why I’m doing this. You know it is for me and it is for my family, but it’s also for others as well because people are not alone. So if I can just be that little seed of hope - you know that’s what I’m shooting for.”


Braden Bishop would also like to thank UW Sports Information Director Brian Tom for helping turn the 4-MOM Foundation into a reality.