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Tampa/Rollins To Meet Mercer in Fundraiser For John Michael Night and the Core Foundation on Nov. 5th

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in , , , , .
  via UT press release   TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa men’s lacrosse team is set to travel to Rollins College Sunday, November 5 for their second fall ball event. The team will compete in an event honoring John Michael Night, against the Mercer University Bears at 12:00 pm at the Rollins College Stadium Field. Proceeds of the night will benefit John Michael Night and the Core Foundation.     John Michael Night was heavily recruited by UT before committing to Mercer University on an academic and athletic scholarship. Before Christmas 2015 he was struck by a rare devastating brain-stem stroke, leaving him in what is medically referred to as Locked-in Syndrome (LIS). With Locked-in Syndrome the patient is fully aware with no mental impairment but is unable to move their body or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Through hundreds of hours of therapy with professionals and specialists, John Michael has made steps toward recovery. However, he still has a long way to go. In order to help cover the medical expenses, the Mercer men’s lacrosse family holds this fundraiser in his hometown of Winter Park, Fla. Last year 1,200 people helped showcase this event and the team was able to raise $27,000 for John Michael’s Road to Recover, a fund set up to help cover medical expenses. Following the University of Tampa’s match against the Bears at noon, Mercer will take on the Rollins College Tars at 3:00 pm.