The VWC Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams supported the Fore Hadley Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising awareness for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernias (CDH), out on Birdsong Field on April 1, 2017.
The games played honored Hadley Kate Bush, a baby girl that passed away after a short battle with CDH. The women played at noon against the conference competitor Shenandoah University while the men played a non-conference game at 2 p.m. against Drew University.
At the end of the day, the foundation raised $250. Of that amount, $500 was raised by the two lacrosse teams, while $250 came from donations received throughout the day at Birdsong Field.
The daughter of Katie and Ryan Bush, Hadley Kate was born on July 20, 2015. For six days, Hadley fought to live despite having only 34% normal lung volume. Hadley was previously diagnosed with CDH during her twenty-week ultrasound.
Although Hadley surprised everyone by surviving her first six days of life and demonstrating encouraging signs of recovery, the baby girl passed away on July 26. Hadley’s parents founded the Fore Hadley Foundation to help find a cure for CDH and help support other families struggling to support loved ones with CDH.
The foundation’s main goal is to raise awareness about this disease and its survivors. However, recently the foundation has begun raising money for scholarship grants for CDH survivors and their families. Lastly, the foundation donates money to help specific children affected by CDH.
Ryan Bush, the father of Hadley, is a Virginia Wesleyan College alumnus (‘05) and a former lacrosse player.
“Mr. Bush is a really close friend of Coach DiCave’s. We felt it was important to do our part to help raise awareness and do our part in getting the word out,” VWC lacrosse player Marie Lerch said.
If anyone is interested in hearing more information about the Fore Hadley Foundation, donating, or learning about CDH, they can visit www.forehadley.com.
“Being able to help raise awareness and support for such a beautiful girl, Hadley, means a lot to both the women and men’s lacrosse teams here at Virginia Wesleyan. We hope that our fans will end up falling in love with Hadley’s story the same we did and help support her cause,” Junior lacrosse player Megan Schallock said.
The women’s team fell to Shenandoah by a final score of 18-5. Schallock scored three goals for the Marlins. The men’s team capped off the day with a 9-8 overtime victory over Drew University. Senior Andre Brummitt scored the game winning goal 33 seconds into the overtime period.
Brianna Clarkson
bnclarkson@vwc.edu
(Photo: Megan DiCave | Courtesy)
