Lacrosse SC championship games also about helping Jack Enright walk again

Though he is not a member of any of the four teams playing for lacrosse state championships at Chapin High on Saturday, Eagles junior Jack Enright may be the weekend’s big winner.

Enright, a Chapin midfielder, suffered a spinal cord injury during a March 4 lacrosse game. In the weeks since, the lacrosse community across the state and much of the nation has rallied around him.

At Saturday’s championships, the Eagles will continue their fundraising efforts to aid the Enright family as he receives specialized treatment through his recovery. The Pray for Jack GofundMe page registers $32,409 of donations over the last month. A variety of other local fundraisers – including several run by area teams such as Lexington, Irmo and River Bluff high schools – also have raised thousands of dollars.

Enright is being treated at the nationally-renowned Shepherd Center for spinal rehabilitation in Atlanta, Ga., where he has regained sensation in both legs and some movement of both feet. According to Jack’s mother, Ann Enright, a wheelchair has been ordered and Jack has started a new therapy to develop muscle function and movement.

He will not be attending the championships this weekend, but he might soon return home to Chapin.

In a Facebook message to supporters on Wednesday, Ann Enright said, “All the many hours, the unbelievable kindness and generosity dedicated towards Jack’s recovery, and all the sweet comments and messages genuinely mean more than you can imagine.

“It has been the source of Jack’s progress and his determined and positive mindset since his March 4^th injury. Also the source of my strength as well! Our family is so grateful to everyone for their thoughtfulness during this time while so many unknowns remain,” she said. “We can continue one day at a time thanks to your encouragement.”

Much of that support has come from strangers and opponents.

Across Columbia, signs entreat people to “Pray 4 Jack.” Inside the Eagles’ stadium, a giant banner vaunts, “We Play for Jack.” In the final weeks of the season, several lacrosse teams across the state wore helmet stickers proclaiming that they, too, played for Jack. Though Chapin’s boys teams did not make the playoffs and its girls team exited the postseason in the second round, the championship contenders are playing for Jack, too.

“It’s just unbelievable. I don’t know all that has been done, but some of the things I’m hearing that teams are doing, it just speaks volumes for lacrosse, the way they are all rallying around this one kid,” said Nessie Harris, the South Carolina High School assistant commissioner who supervises lacrosse. Harris said the S.C. chapter of U.S. Lacrosse is expected to make a presentation to Chapin and the Enright family the championship matches.

J.L. Mann plays Bishop England for the girls championship at 11 a.m., and Wando faces defending champion Fort Mill in a rematch of last year’s boys title game at 1:30 p.m.

“Throughout the whole season, we’ve kept (Jack) and his family in our thoughts and prayers,” Wando coach Lance Renes said. “The whole state is bound together behind him, and we’re all pulling for him.”

As Wando looks to avenge last year’s title loss, they will be wearing tape across their chinpieces marked with Jack’s number 28 or his initials.

“It’s not just about winning,” Renes said. “It’s about sportsmanship, and one of our visions is to lead the state, not just in skill, but in sportsmanship.”

They are competitors on the lacrosse field, but when it comes to Jack Enright’s fight to walk again, they are all on his team.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Lacrosse SC championship games also about helping Jack Enright walk again."