GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The daughter of a Michigan sheriff’s deputy who is fighting a rare genetic disorder will benefit from the department’s annual charity event called the Robert Kozminski Memorial Basketball Games.

The annual event will be put on by the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office Saturday.

The family of Deputy Jon Lasotta learned of their daughter’s condition in April. When his colleagues heard about the medical challenges she will face, they wanted to help and selected them for the benefit.   

“She was diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome, which is also called childhood Alzheimer’s. Its neurodegenerative life expectancy is into the teens,” Lasotta said.

Lasotta, who is a school resource officer at Kent City Community Schools, said his daughter Tierney turns 5 in March. He says she will first lose her ability to talk and will eventually lose the ability to walk.

“There’s no treatments right now. No cures,” Lasotta said.  

The family is working to get into an experimental treatment in Minneapolis that would require regular trips and are preparing for additional expenses to care for Tierney.

“We just got her a safety bed and so that was pretty expensive but as the disease progresses, we expect more and more and more so this will be nice. This is a huge source of relief for us,” Lasotta said.    

The annual event is held in the memory of Robert Kozminski, a Grand Rapids Police officer who was ambushed and killed while on duty in 2007.

Organizers of the games say there was a lot of support to select the Lasotta family to receive all the proceeds.

Deputy Krystal Stuart said Lasotta said no at first but they did not really give him a choice to decline, knowing the long-term expenses the family will endure with treatment.

“It was a no-brainer that we were gonna select them to be the recipients for the Robert Kozminski game,” Stuart said. “Every year, it doesn’t matter who is getting it, in the law enforcement community, when there’s another person within the community that needs that help people are always looking at ways to figure out how to help them.”

Lasotta is grateful for the support from the community, local police agencies and Kent City Community Schools.

“They’ve really taken me in up there. That community has been so supportive,” Lasotta said.