The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 20, 1999

End Zone -- Lacrosse event helps Wesley players come to grips with tragedy

By Kay Hawes
Staff Writer

When Eric Potts was a member of the Wesley College lacrosse team, he was known for his hustle, his great attitude and his love of lacrosse.

When tragedy struck both him and his family, members of the Wesley lacrosse community hustled to help their friend and former teammate.

Lacrosse isn’t one of the sports people usually identify with life-threatening injuries such as paralysis, but it does happen.

Potts was paralyzed in 1998 in a Delaware Summer League game when he was attempting a “body-check” similar to those used in hockey or football. At some point right before the check, he accidentally lowered his head, crushing his C-5 vertebrae upon impact.

He was immediately paralyzed from the neck down and had to endure surgery, as well as a tracheotomy. He also had to overcome a life-threatening infection, which racked up bills from the intensive-care unit.

An aide has to come to the house every day to assist Potts, and his neighbors volunteer several hours a day on a rotating basis to help move his arms and legs.

He has gained some movement in his arms, some limited hand control and a bit of limited control over his fingers. While he’s still a quadriplegic, even that limited amount of motion is extremely important for his quality of life.

Lending a hand

Potts’ accident was complicated by the fact that he had no insurance, and his mother — a single parent — has cancer. While the league had insurance, it covers only so much of his enormous expenses.

Obviously, things for him and his family were horrible,” said Scott Burnam, the men’s la crosse coach at Wesley Col lege. “So, roughly two months after his injury, we held a ‘lacrosse-a-thon’ to help with the exorbitant costs of his situation.”

Last year’s event raised nearly $60,000, and this year’s event raised close to $25,000. All the money went directly to the Eric Potts Fund.

The lacrosse-a-thon began at 9 a.m. and ran until it was too dark to continue. Each participant was required to raise $30 to be eligible to play. While most of the participants had put together teams, individuals without a team also were welcome and assigned to a team.

Also, an all-star game featured many prominent lacrosse players, including Mark Millon, a member of the USA Lacrosse team and former MVP of the World Games; Hamilton Pollard, a former Pennsylvania State University standout and current member of the Albany Attack of the National Lacrosse League; and Scott Burnam, a member of the Iroquois Nationals and a World Games competitor.

This year’s event featured more than 20 teams and more than 300 participants. Also on hand was Princeton University men’s lacrosse coach Bill Tierney, who was a guest speaker at the awards ceremony.

Burnam, along with Potts’ high-school coach Steve Digennaro, and Steve Penoza, one of Potts’ best friends, coordinated the events.

The Wesley lacrosse team volunteered its time to the event, refereeing, parking cars, selling T-shirts and helping with registration.

Why would so many people go out of their way to lend a hand?

“Eric is a former player of mine, and when I got news of his injury, I was pretty upset,” Burnam said. “He was a coach’s dream: a hard worker, a great attitude, just a super person.”

Potts, a member of the 11-2 Wesley ECAC championship team in 1996, won the team’s “Charlie Hustle” award that year.

“That award goes to the player who truly exemplifies the word ‘hustle’ and who does all the little things that make a team successful,” Burnam said. “Lacrosse is an extremely small brotherhood, and it was good to see so many people come together to help out.”

Potts’ situation also tugged at the heart strings of current Wesley lacrosse team members.

“He played here at Wesley, so we felt it was important to help a teammate out,” said Josh Wyatt, a sophomore player who volunteered to assist with the event. “And, he got hurt playing the game of lacrosse, which is a big part of many of our lives. Also, Eric is a great person, extremely nice and well-liked.”

Burnam also noticed that the current student-athletes learned a lot from Potts’ situation.

“I felt it was an important even for our players because it gave them a chance to be a part of something much bigger than just the game of lacrosse. Many of the current players don’t realize how lucky they are to be able to do the everyday things they take for granted. This event was something that really opened their eyes to that.”

To make a donation to help Potts with medical expenses, send a check to: The Eric Potts Fund, P.O. Box 12503, Wilmington, Delaware, 19850.