Rock fans, players and staff unite to raise money

On Aug.19, coaches, players, and fans gathered at the Shelburne Golf & Country Club in Shelburne, Ontario to compete in the “Golf for Casey” fundraising golf tournament.

“Golf for Casey” was put together to help raise money for the “Casey Zaph Fund”. The fund was set up to help alleviate medical costs for Rochester Knighthawks defenseman Casey Zaph who was hospitalized in June with bleeding of the brain.

The tournament, organized by Rock forward Rusty Kruger and his sister-in-law Mairi Macrae from the Shelburne Golf & Country Club, drew close to 100 participants and raised close to $14,000 for the fund.

A highlight of the event was that Casey Zaph was able to attend the event as he has been taking steps towards recovery. Zaph was hospitalized on June 7 when he collapsed at his doctor’s office after experiencing headaches. The 30-year-old husband and father of two fractured bones above and below his right eye and injured his jaw in the fall. He was admitted to the neurological intensive care unit at the Toronto Western Hospital where he was diagnosed with internal bleeding of the brain. Since then the Toronto area school teacher has made slow but steady improvement. He has since been admitted to Westpark Rehabilitation Centre and has been able to return home.

“This event goes to show how special the game of lacrosse is,” said Zaph in a patient update on www.carepages.com.

“Thanks again to the NLL players, the fans, my staff, friends and family. It was nice meeting you all and I look forward to meeting many of you who could not attend the golf but wanted to be there. I am sure our paths will cross in the future!”

Fans can also send donations to the following address:

Mr. Eric Dean
Attention: Casey Zaph Fund
Royal Bank of Canada
2 Bloor Street East
Toronto, Ontario, M4W 1A8

For continued updates on Casey Zaph’s condition, please visit www.carepages.com. The family encourages people to go the website and type in “CaseyZaph” to send their well wishes to Casey and his family. Fans can register to visit the Casey Zaph page at no charge. The page is updated several times each week, so please check back often for updates and to send a message of support to Casey and his family. Upon registration, you will receive an email each time the page is updated with new information. Zaph has a wife, Sandi; son, Charlie; and daughter, Maggie. He works as a high school teacher in the Toronto School District.