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for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com MARCH 14, 2013 • The CourieR SUN 3 COMMITTED TO A CURE Howard Beach mom on a mission BY TERE NCE M. CULLEN tcullen@queenscourier.com Nicholas Caligiuri for the most part is your average sixth grader. He likes playing football, watching TV and banters with his mom, Erin Phillips, as he sits at the kitchen table of their Howard Beach home munching on Goldfish crackers. When Nicholas, now 11, was five years old, he was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic kidney ailment that causes cysts to grow on the organ. The disease, doctors say, is hereditary, and Nicholas’ father is also afflicted. “We kind of knew it was going to happen,” said Phillips. It is something he’ll have to monitor for the rest of his life, especially as he gets older, said his mom. The cysts can prevent the kidney from doing its job properly, and can cause high blood pressure and kidney stones, among other things. As the number of cysts grows, Nicholas could potentially need dialysis or a kidney transplant by the time he’s 50. PKD affects more people than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Down syndrome and sickle cell anemia combined, according to the PKD Foundation. At first it was one cyst on his left kidney and two on his right, but now, almost seven years later, there’s a few more. “We just have to basically monitor it right now,” Phillips said. “Right now they have been growing, they have been multiplying.” Phillips said her son can go about his normal day like any other kid, so long as he maintains a healthy diet that includes a lot of water. She is cautious, however, and said she’s taught him what warning signs to look for. Nicholas, she said, knows to alert her immediately if there is blood in his urine or has a stomach ache, which might signal that one of the cysts has burst. Because Nicholas has a cystic disease, Phillips said the rest of his body has to be monitored, including getting a brain scan every three or four years to ensure none are growing in his head. If he ever gets a headache, he has to alert his mom — just in case. It has been Phillips’ personal mission to inform people of the disease and advise people with a family history of PKD to get tested. To raise awareness, she has organized a yard sale and a walk since 2006, when her son was first diagnosed. Between 2006 and 2012 she’s raised about $9,000 and taught more people about the disease. Nicholas Caligiuri, with his mom, Erin Phillips. “There’s lots of people with it that probably don’t know they have it,” she said. The collected money has been donated to the PKD Foundation, which is the closest it has ever been to finding a cure or treatment for the ailment in its 30 years of research. The PKD Foundation is currently testing a new drug, she said, THE COURIER/Photo by Terence M. Cullen which could potentially stop cyst formations on the kidney. While Nicholas is conscious of his problem down the road, he’s more focused on being a kid and one day playing football for either the New England Patriots or the San Francisco 49ers. Nominate your Faveiort! It’s that time of year again — time to nominate your favorites in Queens for Services, Home & Garden. Home is where the heart is, and the Best of the Boro’s Services, Home & Garden category focuses on businesses that improve and beautify Queens and make residents’ lives easier. From March 15 through April 5, simply visit The Queens Courier’s web site — www. queenscourier.com — and click on the Best of the Boro logo. There you can fill out the nomination form. You may nominate in multiple categories. After April 5, all nominees will move on to the voting round. To stay up-to-the-minute on the competition, like the Best of the Boro page on Facebook and follow @BestOfTheBoro on Twitter. Howard Beach bodies suspect nabbed BY CRI STABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com A Brooklyn man was arrested in connection to the two bodies found in a brush fire in the Spring Park Preserve last week, authorities have announced. Rogelio Rodriguez, 34, was charged on Tuesday, March 12 with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, Rodriguez is only one of four men involved in the brutal homicide of 22-year-old Rudy Superville and 25-year-old Gary Lopez, both of Brooklyn. “The defendant is accused of participating in the brutal murder of two men whose bodies were dumped and intentionally set on fire in an attempt to cover up the alleged crime,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. The two men’s bodies were discovered after firefighters put out a blaze around 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday, March 6 near the Belt Parkway in Howard Beach. The medical examiner later determined that both victims had been shot several times and had blunt force trauma to the head. Superville had also been stabbed. Police have arrested one of four suspects wanted in connection with the two bodies found in a Howard Beach brush fire. A day earlier, inside Rodriguez’s 143 Grove Street residence, he allegedly struck the two victims with a gun and kicked them after they had already been shot by one of the unapprehended suspect. Lopez was shot again by another one of the apprehended suspects, then struck by a third. It’s believed that Superville was also stabbed during that time. The men may have been killed after a THE COURIER/Photo by Terence M. Cullen botched drug robbery, according to reports. In an apparent attempt to cover up the crime, a day after the bodies were dumped, Rodriguez went to Newton Creek in Maspeth and threw seven firearms, including the two of the guns involved in the homicides, into the water. If convicted, Rodriguez faces up to 25 years to life in prison.


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