METAIRIE, La. -- A dream trip to the Super Bowl ended in tragedy for a 39-year-old North Carolina man suffering from ALS, when he was killed in a van that caught fire on the way to the game.
Ed Cushman had obtained tickets to the game through Team Gleason, the charitable foundation started by former Saints player Steve Gleason, who suffers from ALS himself.
WWL-TV and the New Orleans Advocate were the first to report details of the fatal accident. According to their reports, the Georgia state highway patrol said Cushman's brother, Rob, was driving a 2007 Dodge Caravan through Franklin County, Georgia, when the vehicle started smoking underneath.