By: Edward Kensik, Correspondent
HAWTHORNE – The Hawthorne community, as well as the high school softball community, all came out Sunday to help raise funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis.
And it was all about Hawthorne coach Jackie Forte’s 20-month-old son Camden, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.
The coach, her son and her husband, Tommy, came out before each of the four games for the Breathe Easy Softball Tournament in Rutherford on April 30. Along with Hawthorne, there was Cresskill, Rutherford, Secaucus, Pequannock, Immaculate Heart, Ridgefield Park and Northern Highlands, who played in the first installment of the tournament.
One of the games was Hawthorne against Cresskill, and before the game Camden, Jackie and Tommy all threw out the first pitch with both teams on the first- and third-base lines cheering on little Camden.
With Camden rooting the Lady Bears on, Hawthorne went on to defeat Cresskill, 11-1.
“We do not know how much was collected but we believe the tournament was a huge success,” Jackie Forte said of the event that was collecting donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “Despite the monetary success we feel that the awareness Helen [Antzoulides] brought to cystic fibrosis was just as great.”
Forte received news two years ago that her unborn child, Camden, would have cystic fibrosis. It is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time.
Hawthorne and Rutherford have been rivals on the diamond for the last several years in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Colonial Division.
And after one of their games in 2016, Forte recalls when Rutherford coach Antzoulides talked to her and brought up the idea of having a softball tournament to raise funds for cystic fibrosis.
“Last year at the end of our game in Rutherford Coach A put her arm around me and asked me to walk with her into the outfield,” Forte said before the softball tournament. “In front of us was the Little League field and she said the Breathe Easy tournament will be held on. She told me her plan for the tournament and I was in shock. I still am.”
And Antzoulides felt that it was a great idea to have a softball tournament, and that cystic fibrosis was a great cause to help the son of one of the NJIC coaches.
“If you have ever met Jackie, well, she is a breath of fresh air,” said Antzoulides. “She is kind and full of energy. As a head coach, I am a firm believer that we should teach our players more than skills related to the sport. Teaching our youth about helping our community and its members is vital.”
It has been a tough ride for both Camden and Jackie since he was born 20 months ago.
“He spent his first 10 days in the hospital because of gastric issues related to cystic fibrosis, another 10 days in the hospital when he was four months old for IV antibiotics including his first Christmas, since then he’s been doing better,” said Forte.
While he was doing better, a couple of weeks before the tournament they were faced with another challenge.
“We learned this week he has a spot on his lung that his doctor would like to perform a bronchoscopy on,” said Forte. “Daily he does approximately two hours of breathing treatment, takes around five pancreatic enzymes prior to each meal, and additional oral medications throughout the course of the day.”
But at the softball event Camden was full of smiles with the hope of a great future ahead of him.
For more information about cystic fibrosis and to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, check out the website: cff.org/What-is-CF/About-Cystic-Fibrosis.
