Category: Amateur Sports

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Rugby Player Turns Injury into a Wedding Date

For a minute, it just looked like David Jones had fallen, injured on the rugby field. He collided with two other players and hit the ground.

It was all a ruse to get his girlfriend Terri Burns, an athletic therapist working the game, to run out and check on him. When she did, he pulled out a ring and proposed marriage.

It was the culmination of a rugby romance at the Cardinal Newman Secondary School field in Stoney Creek on Saturday. Jones plays for the Stoney Creek Camels men’s team. Burns, an athletic therapist who works with Team Ontario rugby, plays for the Stoney Creek women’s team. The pair live in Burlington.

‘I was starting to get worried that someone would let the secret out of the bag, or I’d get injured for real.’– David Jones, newly engaged rugby player

Their relationship has always included rugby in some way. They met when Burns worked at the Ontario Summer Games and Jones brought an injured rugby player to her for treatment. They celebrated their first anniversary of dating by traveling to Lake Placid to play in a CanAm rugby tournament.

David Jones and Terri Burns

David Jones and Terri Burns got engaged during a rugby match in Hamilton on Saturday. He faked an injury and she was the athletic therapist on duty. (Photo courtesy of Terri Burns)

Burns also does athletic therapy at a clinic in Mississauga, while Jones runs KidsPlay Sports in Burlington. He also coaches rugby at Westdale Secondary School.

Burns doesn’t usually do athletic therapy for her boyfriend’s team, but Jones arranged for the usual therapist to call in sick. Just before the halfway point of the game, Jones, 38, hit the ground with an apparent knee injury. Burns, 28, ran out to help.

She got to her knees, which she does to get level with the players she’s helping. He told her to stand up. When she did, the referee handed him the engagement ring.

‘Are you f–king kidding me?’– Terri Burns, in shock over her boyfriend’s wedding proposal

“I’ll be OK if you spend the rest of my life with me,” he said. “Will you marry me?”

“Are you serious?” asked a stunned Burns. “Are you f–king kidding me?”

Several friends took video of the moment, which has been shared hundreds of times on social media.

Jones is glad it was captured. He spent more than a year planning the proposal.

“I was starting to get worried that someone would let the secret out of the bag, or I’d get injured for real before I could do it,” he said. But “everything went off without a hitch.”

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How the Boston Marathon bombing changed me

For five years, I’ve served on the medical team for the Boston Marathon. In 2013, I was assigned to the finish line area.

The day started for us at 7 a.m. with a standard medical meeting, even though the first runners wouldn’t be crossing the finish line for another several hours. In the meantime, we mostly enjoyed the fantastic weather perfect for marathon running.

Early afternoon approached, the start of our busiest time period as the “charity runners” who inevitably push themselves a little harder to finish the race begin pouring into the medical tent. Usually, we treat 1,500 to 2,000 runners per race.

After about an hour of our peak treatment time, I remember sitting there, finishing with a patient and saying, “This is really easy today.” Not long after, the first bomb went off.

Without knowing what it was, it didn’t seem like a big deal. Until the second explosion.

 

Twenty seconds later, people carried in a police officer on a stretcher. Then, all hell broke loose. Patients kept coming, and the athletic training tent quickly became a fully functional hospital, treating trauma victims of a terrorist attack instead of runners with strained muscles and blisters.

There are two things I’ll always remember from the day over everything else: The smell of gunpowder that clouded Boylston Street, and the frustration of the medical staff when the first fatal victim was brought in and they couldn’t save her.

 

 

My memory was that the treatment took hours, but the reality is that it only took half an hour to treat those who came to us. Sometimes, I’m still shocked when I think about how smoothly the process went in the midst of the utter chaos that none of us had experienced before. Soon, the FBI would kick everyone out in order to begin its investigation.

The magnitude of the event didn’t hit me until Wednesday, two days after the marathon, when I went back to work. I looked at my watch and realized I’d been staring blankly for nearly an hour, just reflecting on what had happened.

It may have taken a while to sink in, but three years later, the impact on my life is as stark now as it was then.

In American culture, sports are placed on a pedestal. Premier athletes are full-fledged celebrities. And many times, winning is seen as a cure-all.

It’s a mindset that even I subscribed to. As a young clinician, I approached athletic training when treating an athlete with the notion, “I’ve got to get you back in this game. You’ve got to play. That’s the most important thing.” It’s an easy trap to fall into, as parents, coaches and athletes themselves want to return to action as soon as possible.

The bombing has completely changed how I approach my patients.

Now, I don’t care what the scoreboard says. I don’t care what the coach says. Let’s look at things more holistically and ensure that athletes understand the ramifications of returning too quickly.

In the big picture, whether you return to the field, court, track or rink instantly is not that important. Continuing to be physically active in your sport and in life in general long-term is much more crucial. It’s something I recognize more fully now, and something the athletic training field overall understands better.

The same can be said of my personal life. Before the bombing, I worked a lot. Between providing medical coverage at sporting events and my ongoing research and publishing efforts, I was never home.

I realize now that I don’t have to cram the next 30 years of my professional life into the next five years of my career. I’ve adjusted my workdays to be home for the important things I really took for granted. Now, I pick my kids up from school most days and have family dinner every night.

It may sound utopian, but life-altering events are only such if you actually alter your life. And rather than changing out of fear, I’d rather change for the better.

The following year most of the staff returned, undeterred by the thought that we might be in danger. When we had the tent set up, I closed my eyes for a minute and the memories brought me back.

But there was never a moment where I didn’t plan to return. We’re simply back doing what we love to do.

Rather than altering my behavior on that single day of the year, I’ve chosen to change how I live the other 364 days.

Murphy is assistant professor and director of athletic training at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa. He has served on the Boston Marathon medical team for the past five years and will be returning again Monday.

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Smith College Athletic Trainer Selected for Team USA

Second-year graduate assistant athletic trainer Katie Sheehan traveled with Team USA to Venezuela for the 2016 APA Pan American Cross Country Cup earlier this March.

Sheehan received the call in January that she was selected from a talented pool of applicants to work with Lori Barnes, who works at Hope Orthopedics in Salem, Oregon and 20 athletes that made up the men’s and women’s senior and junior teams ages 15-35. The following countries participated in the 2016 PanAm Cross Country Cup: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America.

“The experience was amazing,” said Sheehan. “I don’t think it really hit me that I was going to be with Team USA until race day. The experience of being surrounded by all of the other countries and being around the different athletes was something I’ll always remember.”

Sheehan’s favorite part of the trip was the day of competition when she realized the caliber of the athletes she was with.

“It was very apparent how talented they were,” Sheehan said. “These are people that make a living running. It was incredible to have the opportunity to be a part of this.”

Overall, the trip was a success for Sheehan and the team as the United States finished first as a team in the Senior Women (10k), Senior Men (10k) and Junior Men (8k) races.

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Ed Elder Headed to 2016 Olympics

Ed Elder, a 1977 graduate of Lakeview High School, will be bound for Rio De Janeiro this summer as a medical staff trainer for the USA Olympic Team.

Elder is no stranger to international athletics, having spent decades treating and preparing athletes for competition, his duties taking him around the globe for world championships. His role is one first inspired from his experiences in Lakeview, being introduced to sports medicine under the tutelage of Bobbie Steninger, his former track and field coach now entering her 54th year leading the LHS track program. A multi-sport standout at LHS, it was during a trip to Eugene to compete at the basketball state playoffs at the University of Oregon campus that a chance encounter established what would become a lifetime in medicine. Steninger introduced Elder to the head trainer at the University of Oregon, who suggested he enroll in the athletic training program.

Utilizing the Daly Fund, Elder attended the University of Oregon, and after graduation stayed in Eugene, working as a trainer for the Eugene Emeralds, a minor league baseball team. When an opening for a trainer became available at the University of Oregon, he jumped at the chance, working extensively with football and track and field for the next 13 years.

Following Oregon’s improbable trip to the Rose Bowl, of which Elder was heavily involved not only as a trainer but coordinating transportation and hospitality as well, a new opportunity in 1995 brought Elder to Idaho in the Nampa Valley to facilitate high school training and work with local hospitals. Eventually he relocated to the Seattle, Wash. area where he remains to this day, heavily involved in clinic management while continuing to work as a trainer with local schools.

While his participation with USA Track and Field has led to Elder traveling the world for events in places like Russia, China, Qatar and across Europe, his role is a unique and hectic one. While athletes gain the glory, trainers are a vital if unheralded part of their success, anonymous to fans but deeply appreciated by athletes with whom he forms close relationships. During the Olympics he will put in upwards of 20-hour workdays, from early morning preparations to post-event treatments and staff meetings assuring athletes compete at their best.

“We’re living with the athletes for a month or more from training camps through the events,” said Elder. “We see them every day and work closely with them.”

Elder will be part of a USA Track and Field training camp in Houston, Texas before the Olympic Trials start in Eugene in July and the actual Olympic Games in August. While the spotlight is on the athlete, often Elder can be seen just in the background doing his diligent duties and reveling in their achievements. To complete such a thankless and anonymous task is one that comes naturally to Elder, noting the profound influence that growing up in Lake County has had on his professional career.

“The Daly Fund allowed me to go to the University of Oregon to do what I do,” said Elder. “Growing up in Lake County taught me about hard work, knowing what it takes to get the job done. I fought fires in the summer and worked at Fremont Sawmill. It showed me that if I work harder than anybody else I will get the job done and be successful. Being a trainer isn’t an 8-to-5 job, it’s a lot of work.”

Elder said helping people is his greatest reward, a humble and yeoman’s work ethic instilled by Steninger that continues to serve him well to this day. He hasn’t forgotten his roots, returning to Lakeview each year around Memorial Day to visit family and reconnect with his former coach from decades prior that helped send him to the highest levels of athletic competition.

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Oklahoma State Intramurals Adds Concussion Policy

Austin Dick locked onto his target, a football thrown over the middle and dropping toward him.

The Oklahoma State management senior said the details are all secondhand because he has no memory of the event.

As he moved up on the ball from his deep safety position, he didn’t see the receiver or his teammate on a collision course with him.

The lights went out. Violently.

“All I remember is them hiking the ball, and then I remember waking up with four or five (EMTs) surrounding me, and I had no idea what happened,” Dick said. “They were asking me if I knew what day it was, or where I was at, and I couldn’t answer any of those questions.”

The game stopped when Dick’s face smashed into his teammate’s ear. The collision knocked him to the ground as his concussed brain settled in his skull. When he came to, he said nothing was as it seemed.

“I laid there for a while, called my mom,” Dick said. “I was still really out of it not knowing what was going on. I remember looking over at my friend who I hit and his ear is gushing blood, and I’m like, ‘How’d you get hurt?’”

Dick said he was able to walk to a car for a ride to the emergency room and recovered in just over a week. He said he returned to the field a month later.

University of Tulsa’s director of athletic training said intramural concussions are a genuine concern, namely with when players can return to the field. Ron Walker, also a clinical professor at TU, said when testing for concussions, athletic trainers will use cognitive tests compared with predetermined base scores for a given player.

If a player scores lower after a hit to the head or shows obvious signs of a concussion, he or she is pulled from competition. A player is cleared to return only when he or she achieves the same cognitive marks as before, Walker said.  He said the criteria are important not only to show progress, but also to keep players in check.

“Waiting for a participant to self-report is like asking a drunk if they want another beer,” Walker said.

He said it’s the time immediately after a concussion when the risk is greatest for serious injury, often when someone has the common symptom of a headache.

“If someone sustains a second concussion while they still have that symptom, they’re at a significant risk for even a fatal injury; it’s called second-impact syndrome,” Walker said. “When there’s no athletic trainer, it’s common sense recognition of that being a possibility.”

OSU’s assistant director of recreational programs said the department implemented a concussion policy in January, and two students have already gone through the protocol for suspected concussions.

Jason Linsenmeyer said supervisors are trained to spot concussions and given specific protocols for when players can return to playing sports or attending classes.

“If there’s a suspected concussion based on these signs my supervisors have been trained on, they’re going to pull the individual out,” Linsenmeyer said. “Any of those individuals that are pulled out for a potential concussion have to go seek medical attention before they’ll be allowed to play intramural or club sports again.”

Linsenmeyer said supervisors receive training on concussion protocols, and officials have a card listing signs and symptoms of concussions on their person. But he also said those watching aren’t medical staff.

“It’s just our staff as far as officials and supervisors; sometimes our graduate students go out there, but none of them are athletic trainers, none of them are any of the advanced medical training certifications,” Linsenmeyer said.

Although tracking concussions is a good start for any intramural department, it depends on who’s monitoring players, Walker said.

He said although referees or supervisors can act as monitors, they’re focused on the rules and the fair play of a game, not specifically any signs of a concussion. Ideally, an athletic trainer can observe participants because otherwise some less-obvious concussions might be missed.

“From an injury surveillance standpoint, yeah, it’s certainly going to be hard to track,” Walker said. “When they have an incident and there’s a report filed, I would think that if the reports reflected that participants have concussions, I would think those would only be the most severe cases, which would be in the minority.”

Linsenmeyer said because the undergraduate athletic training program was moved to an OSU-Tulsa graduate program, there isn’t a viable way to have medical staff observe.

“There’s really no avenues here to get athletic trainers,” Linsenmeyer said. “Obviously, those are expensive. We have lots of events; we have 50 plus events that we offer every year.

“Trying to staff an athletic trainer or someone who’s got advanced medical certifications, that budget would go out the roof just for basketball, same thing for flag football. … Trying to provide that would be a nightmare as far as budget concerns. We just don’t have that available. ”

Walker said even if officials monitor for concussions, they should be trained enough to provide the rising standard of care for intramural sports.

“There’s absolutely no reason for intramural departments across the country to not accept (concussion training) as a standard and require that for their intramural officials and game managers,” Walker said.

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Director of Sports Medicine works at U.S. Olympic Training Center

Hamilton College’s Director of Sports Medicine, Scott Siddon, recently volunteered his expertise at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Siddon provided prevention, evaluation, management, treatment and rehabilitation for injured athletes at the training center. He has previously given his medical services at the Colorado Springs and Chula Vista (Calif.) Olympic Training Centers.

Siddon also assisted with mat-side medical coverage for the Dave Schultz Memorial International Wrestling Tournament. Schultz was tragically killed in 1996 and part of his legacy was captured in the 2014 movie “Foxcatcher”. The tournament featured many top international wrestlers and U.S. champions will be invited to the U.S. Olympic Trials in April.

Siddon is in his 21st year as a member of Hamilton’s sports medicine team. He spent eight years as assistant athletic trainer before he was named head athletic trainer/director of sports medicine in 2003. He oversees all daily athletic training room operations, including injury management and rehabilitation, staff assignments and ensuring medical coverage for all Continental student-athletes.

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Bill to extend concussions law to youngest athletes in the works

An effort to extend Connecticut’s concussion awareness and response laws to the youngest athletes now underway in the state Legislature’s Committee on Children received support Tuesday from one of Connecticut’s experts in sports neurology, Dr. Anthony Alessi of Norwich.

Alessi, director of UConn NeuroSport at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Storrs, testified to the committee about how to better protect children in recreational leagues from concussions.

He advocated requiring concussion training for the volunteer youth team coaches and the presence of athletic trainers at tournaments and other large gatherings, among other measures.

“These children’s leagues have the highest levels of participation, and there is no on-site medical care,” Alessi said. “This is our most vulnerable group.”

Current concussion laws in the state apply only to students who play high school sports.

They require coaches to complete online training courses in recognizing and treating concussions, brain injury education and signed consent from parents and medical clearance for an athlete to return to play after a concussion, among other measures.

State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, co-chairwoman of the Committee on Children, said she and other members are planning to introduce a bill this session that also would require all volunteer coaches of teams using municipal or school fields to complete the online concussion education course.

As with high school sports, parents of younger athletes also would be required to take an online concussion education course and give signed consent, and athletic trainers would have to be present at tournaments for youth sports teams.

In addition, the current law would be strengthened to require high school coaches to take refresher courses every two years rather than every five, she said.

In the most controversial of the proposals she plans to advance, youth football players would not be allowed to tackle until high school.

“We’re going to put it out there,” she said of the proposed legislation being written. “We expect there will be a huge discussion about that.”

She cited Alessi’s testimony, in which he noted that professional football quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady never participated in youth football leagues, but rather worked on learning football skills until their bodies were developed enough for contact play.

Alessi also noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics is promoting more non-tackling football leagues.

The proposed legislation, Urban said, would apply to all sports, not just football.

“I’m a huge proponent of sports teams,” she said, emphasizing that she does not want to undermine the positive benefits of youth athletics. “We’re not trying to stop kids playing football or lacrosse or soccer, just to set some parameters.”

In his testimony, Alessi likened a concussion to having “a leak in your basement.” When the brain receives a jolt, it causes a leak in the nerve cells that needs time and rest to heal, much like a “moldy, smelly rug in your basement” needs time to dry out after a flood.

Having a second impact shortly after the initial concussion, he said, is often the cause of the most serious injury in young athletes, so keeping them out of the game to give the brain enough time to heal is crucial.

He also advocated that sports such as women’s lacrosse — even though physical contact is accidental — begin requiring players to wear helmets.

“Any sport where there is a ball moving at high velocity and a stick should require players wear helmets, and that includes playing golf with me,” he said.

The evidence from high school sports, he said, shows that having athletic trainers on hand results in better recognition and treatment for concussions, and that practice should become standard for younger athletes as well.

“If you cannot afford an athletic trainer, you cannot afford a high velocity contact sport,” he said.

James Doran, athletic trainer for the UConn men’s basketball team and president of the Connecticut Athletic Trainers Association, noted that current state laws require athletic trainers only for sports that practice three or more times per week.

Many youth sports, he said, practice only once a week, but involve many more athletes.

“In these big tournaments, there are lots of kids running around and very little health care,” he said.

Like Urban, Alessi said taking steps to reduce and better respond to concussions should not be interpreted as an effort to discourage participation in youth sports.

“Sports has been the reason for many children to not do the wrong thing,” he said. “There is no way we should eliminate sports. But we need to figure out how to do this in a better way so we get all the attributes without all the injury.”

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy

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ATVANTAGE SELECTED FOR PLAYER WELFARE PROGRAM

SCYR Selects ATvantage for Player Welfare PrograM

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

January 25, 2016

Southern California Youth Rugby Selects ATvantage for Player Welfare Program

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jan. 25,  2016 – ATvantage Athletic Training has been selected by Southern California Youth Rugby (SCYR) to initiate their Player Welfare Program (PWP) for the 2016 season. The PWP will provide SCYR’s athletes with several benefits including access to Certified Athletic Trainers (ATs), an online baseline concussion test, and a mobile injury reporting software. This groundbreaking program is the first of its kind and ATvantage is proud to be a part of it.

“It is an honor to work with SCYR implementing the first Player Welfare Program as it aligns with our mission to provide an athletic trainer to all athletes,” Alisha Pennington, owner of ATvantage said. “Having just read statistics that rugby concussion rates are nearly 18 times the national average, we are hopeful that it won’t be the last.”

Understanding the value of having athletic trainers on the sidelines, SCYR is seeking to have the medical professionals at all matches for participants age 8-18. ATvantage will be responsible for staffing all 2016 games within an area spanning nearly 40,000 square miles including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties.

The AT’s primary duties will be to manage injuries occurring during play and identify concussions, thus taking medical decisions out of the hands of uncertified personnel and improving safety for the athlete.

ATvantage Athletic Training, a service of ATvantage, LLC, is leading the way in athletic training contract services and providing a risk management solution for school athletic departments. ATvantage works alongside their clients to provide uniquely catered packages to place certified and verified athletic trainers to their site(s) based on their needs and compatibility. ATvantage, LLC promotes athletic trainers as health care professionals and educates clients about their expertise. In doing so, ATvantage encourages clients to provide proper compensation and healthy work environments.

Follow: @theATvantage         Like: facebook.com/theATvantage        Visit: theATvantage.com

Southern California Youth Rugby was created in 2006 and is the organizing body responsible for all youth and high school rugby in Southern California. As a State Rugby Organization (SRO), SCYR reports directly to USA Rugby, the sport’s national governing body (NGB) and coordinates with the SCRRS Referee Society and the Southern California Rugby Football Union (adult rugby). For more information on SCYR visit www.socalyouthrugby.org.

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Contested hearing set for hockey athletic trainer

The hockey athletic trainer who allegedly filmed a 14-year-old girl showering in the Breezy Point Ice Arena in Breezy Point appeared in court Tuesday on a criminal charge stemming from the incident.

James William Diffley, 32, Maple Grove, was charged June 24 in Crow Wing County District Court with felony interfering with a minor’s privacy. Judge Kristine DeMay presided over Tuesday’s hearing and a contested hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. April 26, 2016.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Diffley, Breezy Point officers were dispatched at 9:45 p.m. June 22 to the ice arena for a report of a male possibly filming a minor female who was showering in a locker room. An officer spoke with a 14-year-old victim and a 15-year-old witness. Both girls were participating in an all-female hockey camp taking place in the ice arena.

The officer learned the victim was showering and the witness had left the arena, but returned to the locker room to retrieve shampoo, which she had forgotten. The 15-year-old approached the locker room and saw a male standing in the locker room with a phone in his hand reaching around a privacy wall. He appeared to be filming the girl showering.

The 15-year-old confronted the male, at which time he put the phone in his pocket and walked out, the complaint said. The man was captured on video at the arena and identified as Diffley, the hockey camp athletic trainer.

Diffley was located at a cabin at Breezy Point Resort and he admitted to using his phone to observe the 14-year-old female showering without clothing, the complaint said.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/crime/3885965-contested-hearing-set-hockey-athletic-trainer

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Parents Publicly Thank Athletic Trainers For Life Saving Efforts

On October 23, 2015 our son Andrew suddenly and for no apparent reason, cardiac arrested during halftime on the Staples soccer field. Andrew survived due to the amazing teamwork of some trained professionals and loving Staples parents.

Andrew was and is a conditioned varsity basketball athlete, with no prior medical history or pre-existing medical condition before this event.

We would like to publically thank Gaetana “G” Deiso (head athletic trainer at Staples), who provided breaths of life and chest compressions to maintain blood and oxygen flow; Tiffany Kinahan (a SCSU intern in athletic training at Staples) who assisted in CPR; Kerry Liles (a nurse and Staples parent) who assisted in CPR; Nicole Donovan (Westport EMT and Staples parent) who also assisted in CPR; Mark and MaryGrace Gudis (Staples parents) who had a defibrillator (AED) in the trunk of their car, which was used to shock Andrew back to life; and Corey Iomonico (assistant Staples athletic trainer) who brought an additional defibrillator to the scene.

Without the quick administration of CPR and the use of the AED, Andrew may not have survived.

In addition we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Westport EMTs, the Westport Police Department, Norwalk Hospital and Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Sudden cardiac arrest affects over 400,000 people a year. Overall the survival statistics are not good. Less than one in 10 survive.

In 2014, Adam Greenlee, a sixth grader at Bedford Middle School, suddenly collapsed during a gym class. He also experienced sudden cardiac arrest. As in Andrew’s case, due to the quick action of trained individuals performing CPR and an available AED, Adam survived. He is now an active eighth grader at BMS.

Following Adam’s episode, his parents started the , an organization whose mission is to raise awareness and funds for treating sudden cardiac arrests. Their goal is to have AED devices permanently installed for use at all of our town’s school athletic fields and gymnasiums.

In addition defibrillators would be purchased for each school as an extra measure of protection for students on field trips or during athletic competitions at other schools. The foundation has partnered with the Westport School District and Westport PAL to help promote this very important cause. The foundation has committed that 100 percent of all donations will be used to buy AEDs and to train school staff and coaches.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?? Please visit http://www.sca-aware.org/donate to contribute and learn more.

Any amount will be greatly appreciated, and you will be potentially saving lives. You can see donation instructions on the above site, in the PayPal option where you can specify “The Adam Greenlee Foundation.” Alternatively you can make contributions by mail, by directly sending a check payable to “The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation ” or “The Adam Greenlee Foundation” to:  The Adam Greenlee Foundation, 28 Maple Ave North,Westport, CT 06880.

The fundraising goal is $50,000 by Noember 15. All contributions are tax deductible and will help us get one step closer to making Westport a safer place for all and complete this mission on time.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v2_5/comments/letter_thanks_for_saving_a_life_on_soccer_field/