With the stroke of a pen, 11-year-old Caralyn Reynolds from Grand Island became the newest member of the Niagara University Women's Lacrosse team.
"Team Impact is a program that pairs a child fighting, some sort of illness, with a college athletics team, hoping to make the lives of both better. They become a part of the team, are on the roster. They are part of daily activities, to the extent that they are able and want to be," said Wendy Stone, Head Coach of the Woman's Lacrosse Team.
Caralyn has had eight surgeries and has just completed 33 months of weekly chemotherapy for treatment of a brain tumor.
"I like it here and I want to come here when I am older and maybe play lacrosse, Caralyn remarked.
The team members have welcomed Caralyn into their lives.
"It allows their perspective on life to change. There is way more to this than academics and playing lacrosse all the time. It gives you a little bit more perspective to see somebody who has fought through and battled. It allows us to give back and to share our experiences and what we are so lucky to have, with someone else," Stone added.
The Reynolds family is thankful for all the support Caralyn has been getting.
"And through the journey that she has been on, we have constantly been reminded that we never walk alone. That each one of you is part of her story. Is part of the story that got us telling through her. So know that this little piece that may seem so simple to you, is huge in the life of not only Caralyn, our whole family and the world as they see it, as it's played out," Caralyn's mother Jennifer said.
Throughout this fall, Caralyn has been spending time with her new team members. The university's lacrosse season starts in the spring.
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