Community Corner

Community Rallies Behind Catholic Central Hockey Player With Spinal Cord Injury

Matt Sorisho's family is hoping to raise $200,000 to help cover medical costs, and total strangers have risen to the call.

Matthew Sorisho, a senior at Novi's Detroit Catholic Central High School, was seriously injured during a hockey tournament earlier this month.

"He screamed immediately, 'My legs!'" his mother, Deborah Sorisho, told ESPN.

Sorisho's family and friends are uniting to raise money to help with the cost associated with his spinal cord injury. As of Thursday morning, they raised 22 percent of their $200,000 goal on online fundraising website GiveForward

>>See what Sorisho and his supporters are saying in the live stream of Tweets above.

Strangers have offered their support to Sorisho via GiveForward.

“Matt, you don't know me, but I played hockey for CC back in the 70's. Stay strong and stay close to the Lord, he'll always be there when you need him," wrote David Gruley. 

Sorisho hit the boards back-first during a game at the Farmington Hills Ice Arena while playing for a Michigan Development Hockey League all-star team, the Detroit Free Press reported. He went through a seven-hour surgery to remove a shattered disk in his back, according to the article.

"I will say this: He’s a tough, high-quality-character young man. I know he’s going to fight his rear end off," Novi Detroit Catholic Central athletic director Aaron Babicz told the Free Press

Sorisho has seen an outpouring of support for his speedy recovery, including from professional hockey players like David Moss, a forward with the Phoenix Coyotes. Moss, who happened to be in town and is a former Catholic Central student, visited Sorisho at Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills and gave him his hockey stick, which he and his teammates signed, ESPN reported

The family needs funds to modify the family home, assist with medical expenses not covered by insurance, purchase necessary equipment and offset increased living expenses.

Donations can also be sent directly to the high school, which will turn over all donations to the Matthew Sorisho Trust Fund. Checks may be made out to Catholic Central High School with “Matt Sorisho Trust Fund” on the memo line. Note that 100 percent of the funds sent to the high school will be given to the Matthew Sorisho Trust Fund while 92.1 percent of the donations on GiveForward will go to the fund after the administrative costs are covered, according to the school.

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