Throwing him all their support The Sentinel & Enterprise Ashburnham school dodge ball tourney helps ailing student By Anna Burgess aburgess@sentinelandenterprise ASHBURNHAM — Students at Overlook Middle School held a 45-team dodge ball tournament on Wednesday to raise money and show support for Jacob Nano, an eighth-grade student hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit. Nano, who was listed in stable condition Wednesday, initially got sick with pneumonia a few weeks ago, but complications resulted in his lungs collapsing and then being unable to function on their own. He is currently at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he has been in an induced unconscious state for several days and requires a ventilator to help him breathe. When the school found out about Jacob’s serious condition, Jacob’s brother Nick and dozens of other students told school Principal Phillip Saisa they wanted to hold a schoolwide event for Jacob. “It’s awesome to know that everybody in the school, even people who don’t know him, are still supporting him,” Nick Nano said. They decided on a dodgeball tournament, explained Jacob’s friend Brad Blessington, because Jacob is “a great athlete.” Blessington, who plays baseball at Overlook with Jacob, said playing sports together is how he and Jacob became friends. “Jake’s been in love with sports all his life,” Nick said. “And the only sport he never played was dodgeball, but he always wanted to, so we thought it would make him happy.” On Wednesday, hundreds of students showed up to school wearing sports apparel or homemade jerseys with Jacob’s name on them. More than 200 students and teachers had signed up to play in the tournament, which began after school at 2 p.m. Saisa was helping to organize the team matchups during the tournament. From registration alone, he said, students had raised well over $2,000, which will go to the Nano family. He said he was having “mixed emotions” about the tournament for Jacob. “I feel horrible for the family,” he said. “As the father of three boys myself, it’s such a hard thing to go through. But at the same time, I’m very proud of the kids.” Jennifer Jensen, Jacob’s English teacher, agreed that her students have been great over the past few weeks. “It’s been really amazing to watch all these kids come together for one cause,” she said. Saisa said the entire event has been driven by the students. “I think this is making them all feel like they’re part of trying to support Jacob and his family,” he said. “There’s a lot of support for him here,” Blessington said. “When a kid in our school gets sick or gets hurt, everyone pitches in, everyone turns out to help.” Jacob’s uncle, Eric Nano, was at the school to take videos of the dodgeball tournament for Jacob and his parents. “I’m sending everything right to the hospital room,” he said. He explained that his brother Keith and sister- in-law Alethea have been at Boston Children’s every day with Jacob as the doctors try to find an antibiotic that will help his lung infection. “The last 48 hours, Jacob has had some very small but significant positive progress,” Keith Nano said, “and the med team is very positive about that. ... He’s still in critical condition but stable, and we’re all in prayer and hopeful that the baby steps will become bigger steps.” He and Jacob’s mother are “blown away” by the support they’ve received from the school and the community. “You don’t realize how tired and weary you get going back and forth to Boston, you don’t realize when you haven’t eaten all day, or how emotional this all is,” he said. “It’s been nothing but a complete blessing that we’ve had all that support.” “It’s been really amazing to watch all these kids come together for one cause.”Throwing him all their support “It’s been really amazing to watch all these kids come together for one cause.”Jennifer Jensen, Jacob Nano’s English teacher SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE PHOTOS / JOHN LOVE
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:45:57 +0000
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