Cajasol dedicates game to help local family
To the statistic minded basketball fan, the EuroCup Week 6 contest between Cajasol Seville and Spartak SP was meaningless in terms of advancement to the next round. Cajasol was winless in five games and had long been counted out of the hunt for a spot in the next round. Spartak could finish no lower than second in their group, but couldn’t win the group, so no matter what happened, their fate was sealed. The thing was though, the Andalusian Basketball Federation contacted the Cajasol Seville club a few weeks ago and told them about an effort to help a local family with medical expenses for their daughter, one-year-old Susana Cabral. Wednesday’s game took on a special meaning as the club promoted solidarity with Susana and her family by offering 100% of the gate receipts to help with her expenses.
Susana was born with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, a rare congenital neurological and skin disorder that can cause glaucoma, seizures, muscle weakness, mental retardation and port-wine stains on the face. Due to the extensive list of possible complications, treatment is varied and can be expensive, in Susana’s case it also means traveling from her home in Dos Hermanas, Spain to Barcelona, Spain, roughly 1,000km by car away.
When the club was informed of the situation and the plans to help the family raise needed funds, they decided to jump in and do what they could. The initial step was to plan a couple of fundraisers around their games this week. The first, Wednesdays EuroCup contest with Spartak, was planned to be a reduced ticket price event to get as many people in the door as possible. Everyone that attended the contest got in the door for just one Euro and 100% of those revenues will be donated to the Cabral family. The second will be this Sunday when Cajasol plays Asefa Estudiantes in the Spain Liga Endesa. The club is encouraging anyone coming to donate to the family.
When Cajasol and Spartak took the court, 2,500 fans were in the stands, and when the contest had finished, Cajasol had picked up their first win of the EuroCup Last 16 round. Hats of to the Cajasol Seville club for the effort in helping a little girl and her family and for bringing awareness her condition.