The Indiana Hoosiers have taken the college football world by storm, earning the No. 1 seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
A big reason for the Hoosiers success this season is the play of QB Fernando Mendoza. He became the school's first-ever Heisman winner, helping lead Indiana to its first conference championship since 1967.
Mendoza's parents are Fernando and Elsa Fernandez. His mother, Elsa, suffers from an autoimmune disorder. Mendoza has spoken about his mother's disease in the past, and she uses a wheelchair because of it.
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What is Fernando Mendoza's mom's disease?
Mendoza's mother, Elsa, suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. Commonly referred to as MS, the disease causes a breakdown of the protective covering of the nerves.
What is Multiple Sclerosis?
According to the Mayo Clinic, the body's immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, called myelin. This leads to a disruption of communication between the brain and rest of the body. Eventually, the disease can potentially damage the nerve fibers permanently.
While symptoms vary from person to person, common ones include tingling or numbness, electric-shock sensations while moving the neck, lack of coordination and difficulty walking and weakness.
Unfortunately, there is no current cure for multiple sclerosis. It is estimated that the disease affects 2.9 million people in the world.
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Fernando Mendoza's mom age
Elsa's age is not publicly known, but in a recent letter penned to her son for The Player's Tribune, she says she moved to Boston when she got pregnant with her son at 25 years old. Mendoza was born on Oct. 1 2003 in Boston, which would put her somewhere in her late 40s.
When was Elsa Mendoza diagnosed with MS?
Mendoza was diagnosed with MS 18 years ago. Per her letter, her disease progressed in 2015 when she broke her knee, and later when she contracted COVID-19.
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Elsa Mendoza raises Multiple Sclerosis awareness
Together with her son's platform at Indiana, Fernando and his mother have helped raise awareness for the disease. Mendoza hosted a fundraiser aiming to raise $100,000 for MS research, programs and services. He has also talked about what an inspiration she has been for him:
"At this point, she has a tough time moving around and stuff like that, but her happiness, her joy and her determination is what inspires me every single day and that's what pushes me," Fernando said in a video for Hoosiers Connect, Indiana's official NIL collective. "You know, if I'm in a workout and I'm feeling tired, you know, a little thought in my mind goes, 'Maybe you should skip out on this set' or something like that, I'll be like, my mom is out here every single day putting a ton of work, a ton of dedication and still with a great attitude, a great positive attitude in everything she does."
Before Mendoza won the Heisman, he teamed up with the National MS Society at the Adidas store:
Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers will take on Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.