ARCHBALD, Pa. — A basketball game in Lackawanna County on Saturday raised money to help people living with cancer.
But, there's more to the inspiration behind the game.
Isabella Rebar is a senior at Valley View High School. She's the one who coordinated the match.
She spends a lot of time now on the basketball court. But in 2019, she was in an ATV accident that sidelined her with a traumatic brain injury.
Her mom says she needed emergency brain surgery at just 12 years old.
"She had to go through a month of rehab where she couldn't walk, talk or do anything. While we were in rehab the thing she remembers is one of her coaches who was a huge mentor who passed away six months after she got out of rehab, Jon Bucci, all she kept hearing from him was keep pushing, keep pushing you can do it," said Jennifer Rebar, Isabella's mom.
"It was challenging, nobody expects to go through that at such a young age so for me it was very hard but I had my community to help me through it," said Isabella.
Isabella decided she wanted to pay it forward to the community that helped her when she was in need, so she coordinated the inaugural Coaches vs. Cancer game at Valley View.
"I did lose a couple of my family members to cancer and let's be honest everybody has lost somebody to cancer, so just having an event that can help people will make a difference," said Isabella.
Two teams of teachers and coaches duked it out on the hardwood against the girls' varsity basketball team. Fans packed the stands to support the fundraising efforts.
"My dad was a coach for 30 years and he got diagnosed with small cell lung cancer about two and a half years ago, so it means a lot to me," said Al Callejas, a participant.
Isabella hopes the game will become a yearly tradition at Valley View.
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