By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
JEFFERSON, Ore.– Crosshill Christian’s Wefley Zorn has had an interesting journey he’s been on.
A five year journey to overcome Aplastic Anemia, a battle that he’s still battling to this day to get his blood cell count up that required him to get a bone marrow transplant. Something that he got from a donor in Germany that led to him recovering for seven weeks that led him to where he is on Wednesday where he’s getting to play the game of Soccer with the Crosshill Christian/Jefferson Co-Op this Fall. It is an opportunity that he’s now taking full advantage of now.
“Oh, so grateful. It puts a whole different perspective…life is so good when you have good health. It makes you grateful for not only soccer but also life,” said Zorn. “Just trying to make up for all the time lost because there’s been setbacks and different kinds of stuff. My recovery is still going on now. A couple of months ago, I had more guidelines than I do now. As I go on, I get to progress playing soccer and training harder and improving. That’s what it’s about.”
The Sophomore joins a relatively young squad this Fall as the co-op enters its fifth year of existence with a freshman-heavy squad that will challenge those returning to step up as leaders this season for a squad that features 35 athlete’s in its program. With their season kicking off August 30 with a jamboree at Jefferson High School before their first game of the year September 4 at Grand View Christian Academy.
“I’m hoping to leave my mark by showing other people how to include others. If I can show the next generation how to do it, they can continue to bring people in. We’re cheering each other on. We’re not excluded, and I’m hoping that if I start that here, it’ll continue down the road,” said Corbin Ellis, a senior on the roster.
“We just got to keep connecting like we did in Middle School. We’ve played together for years and years. Work hard, communicate. We just got to keep working hard in practice and get better every day,” adds Brayden Lytle, a freshman.
The Eagles’ first home game of the year will be September 11 against Salem Academy.
