Surgery Fund 4 Carl's rugby future
Some of you may know Carl but most of you don't. Carl has been with the Baltimore Chesapeake Rugby Football Club for only two years. The BC Head Coach, Dean Wharekura, was the first BC contact with Carl and assisted in Carl's rugby development from the start. For those who observed Carl at training, that very first time, when he picked up one of our most skilled players in cover defense, we all knew Carl would have a future in Sevens rugby and BC has guided Carl that way from the outset.
Some seeing this have trained with Carl and his mentor Philippe and can testify to Carl's commitment to excellence and in developing his rugby to the highest level. Additionally, Carl was able to spend some valuable time learning what it takes to be at the highest level in the sport with the Chicago Lions program earlier this year.
This past Summer was meant to be Carl's emergence as a Sevens player. The plan was then for him to gain valuable rugby knowledge by playing 15's for BC this season, to set him up for a serious dig at National Sevens selection next Summer.
That dream fell apart when Carl sustained a serious knee injury at the Beltway Sevens tryouts. Carl has been sidelined ever since.
Like many folks, Carl hasn't had any favours in life. Carl keeps to himself pretty much and that includes sharing life's difficulties. So Carl said nothing about the severity of the injury until after it was too late for us to claim health insurance on his behalf through USA Rugby. Carl's coach attempted for over a month to try to get USA Rugby to show leniency to Carl's situation, to no avail. So Carl was left to his own devices.
No one is at fault for this happening. It is just unfortunate the way things turned out; they could certainly have gone a different way.
Here's the rub: Carl is now facing a medical bill in excess of $10K for his knee operation and doesn't have the funds to go ahead with the procedure. The diagnosis is that if Carl has the operation, he can resume his rugby and training after recuperation. If he doesn't have the operation, he's done with rugby. Carl continues to train relentlessly every single day. He has not given up.
We at the Baltimore Chesapeake Rugby Club haven't either. We are here for Carl and ask that you join us in getting this dedicated young man back to the sport he loves and plays so well. Thank you on behalf of Carl, and Baltimore Chesapeake Men's Rugby.
