Before the Towson University men's lacrosse team suited up to take on crosstown rival UMBC Saturday afternoon, head coach
Shawn Nadelen and the squad added one more Tiger to the roster: Chinny Hackley.
Coached by a pair of Towson lacrosse standouts, Ian Mills '12 and Robert Zoppo '14, Hackley will became an honorary member of the Towson men's lacrosse team during a special ceremony in the Minnegan Room on Saturday, March 3 at 10 a.m.
A 10 year old boys' lacrosse player in Manhattan Beach, California, Hackley will make the trip to Towson with his grandparents for a special birthday present. When a grandchild turns 10, he or she gets the chance to pick a trip anywhere in the world and Hackley elected to travel to Johnny Unitas ® Stadium to see his beloved Tigers take on the Retrievers of UMBC.
Even more meaningful, Hackley is a pediatric cancer survivor. After playing in the house and bumping his head, his parents took him for a checkup with their pediatrician, who ordered a CT scan. The next day at the UCLA hospital, the family learned that
Chinny had a brain tumor. After discovering that the brain tumor was inoperable, the preschooler endured five to six months of chemotherapy.
After the tumor swelled, and the Hackley family had done its research, Chinny and his parents made the trip across the country to New York City for another surgery, where the entire tumor was successfully removed and Chinny was out of the hospital three days later.
And now Chinny suited up with the men's lacrosse team at Towson University, got a tour of the facility and joined Towson's captains
Adam Ceribelli,
Zach Goodrich and
Cole Robertson for the coin toss before the game.
