Without surgery, Ugandan boy faced amputation or even possibility of death continued from p.22 "You could tell how overjoyed (Michael) was that he would be able to walk again," said Oakville captain Alton McDermott, a 13-year-old student at John Knox Christian School. "We saw the video two weeks ago, and we were still talking about it at practice the other night... There was another video they sent that showed him up and walking again, and we just went crazy. "In Canada, we have free health care and we take that for granted. If we have a broken bone in hockey, we go to the hospital and we're all fixed and we're back ready to play in four to six weeks... It may not seem big to us, but over there it makes a huge difference." Without the surgery, Pascoe said, Michael would have eventually needed the leg amputated or -- if he couldn't afford the amputation -- might have even died. "In village life where there is poverty, they don't typically get sufficient nutrients to prevent infections that are bacterial in nature," said Pascoe, who lives in Kitchener and is a long-time friend of Hiebert's. "When osteomyelitis (a bone infection) grows, the bones slowly start to disintegrate like a tree that's rotting in the middle. Then the child can break the bone through really incidental activity like playing or walking, which is what happened to Michael... That infection wouldn't go away. It would spread." Team will likely adopt different child next year Now that Michael is on his way to recovery, the Rangers are wondering what they can do next. There's been talk of what it would take to get Michael and his mother to Canada, but it's likely the Rangers will never meet their 18th man. "We all feel he's part of our team. We don't really want to just ditch him," said McDermott, whose grandfather is 1972 Summit Series Canadian hero Paul Henderson. "We would like to keep him for the next three seasons that we're a team (up to midget)." But there are also many other children in Uganda the Rangers can help in the future through One4Another. And they welcome other Oakville teams and even other hockey associations to join their cause. "When you pool a bunch of people together, a bunch of families, it doesn't feel like a huge output. But the result is enormous," Morrison said. "If we get 50 per cent participation from MOHA (rep teams), that's 25 teams. That's 25 more kids getting surgeries for $40 per family. It's amazing, the crowdsource nature it could take on." Participation in an initiative like One4Another can have competitive benefits for teams as well, McDermott said. "I think it brought us together. Before the video Michael sent to us, we were in a slump. We'd lost our last four games. I don't think we've lost a game since Michael sent the video," said the Rangers captain. "You're never too busy to give. You just have to take time out of your day, instead of playing video games or whatever. There's always time to take out of your day and help others." -- Video footage of Michael and his mother thanking the Rangers can be viewed online at bit.ly/1JrSlUg 23 | Friday, February 20, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com THE GYM NAUTILUS Est. 1982 Convenient, clean, and friendly. We're Oakville's best kept secret! High quality weight training and Nautilus cardio equipment. Experienced and mature personal trainers. Carpeted, air conditioned with ample natural light from large windows. Free indoor parking. Five King's wrestlers claim Halton crowns Five King's Christian Collegiate students won weight division titles at the Halton high school wrestling championships last Thursday at King's Christian. Louise Thomson (72-kilogram class), Maddy Delle Donne (77kg) and Kaila Sloat (heavyweight) won girls' titles, while Thomas Hamilton (64kg) and Philipp Summer (89kg) were boys' division champions. Abbey Park's Kais Alkahdi (57.5kg boys) and White Oaks' Caroline Fell (57.5kg girls) were other Oakville residents to win their weight class. Also winning medals at the Halton meet were Abbey Park's Dylan Howse (silver, 51kg boys), Adam Ashley (bronze, 51kg boys), Yihang Qin (silver, 54kg boys), Anthony Kosick (silver, 72kg boys), Darren Kocken (bronze, 83kg boys), Adam Ladha (bronze, 89kg boys) and Morgan Puddefoot (bronze, 95kg boys); Oakville Trafalgar's Demitri Djuric (bronze, 67.5kg boys); King's Christian's Carter Toole (bronze, 72kg boys); and Jackson Richardson (bronze, 77kg boys). Milton's Craig Kielburger won the boys' team title with 129 points, which was also good enough to easily win the overall meet championship. Georgetown scored 51 points to lead all girls' squads. Abbey Park was second in the boys' division with 64 points, while King's Christian placed second in girls (36 points) and was third overall at the meet (73 points). All wrestlers who competed at the Halton championships are eligible to participate in today's (Friday's) Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference finals at Kielburger. The two two finishers in each division at GHAC will advance to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations tournament March 3-4 in Windsor. Trial Offer: 3 FREE workouts with a trainer! 11 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, ON www.thegymnautilus.com 905-844-1610 on Soccer Player Development socceR pRoGRaMs that Develop plaYeRs InnovatIve technIques to Develop InDIvIDual skIll Game Based LearninG Brain Based LearninG Oakville Summer Registration Now Open! NOW! 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