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A weekend softball tournament to benefit Tyler England ended with the Powell resident and coach himself making a surprise appearance.
“No words can express that feeling looking up to see …
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A weekend softball tournament to benefit Tyler England ended with the Powell resident and coach himself making a surprise appearance.
“No words can express that feeling looking up to see what all the commotion was … To see Tyler walking towards us at the softball field, I couldn’t get out of the concession stands quick enough to get to Tyler to give him the biggest hug ever,” said Kelly Laughlin, who helped organize the event.
“Wow, what a miracle he is,” she said.
England was severely injured in a Sept. 19 rollover outside of Ralston. He spent 10 days in a coma after the crash, which occurred as he was driving home from a different charity softball tournament. England was initially flown to Billings and then transferred to the University of Utah Nielson Rehab Hospital, where he was able to make enough of a recovery to fly home Friday night and then attend the softball tournament on Saturday.
England is an assistant Powell Pioneer coach and the softball fundraiser was organized by former Pioneer coach Joe Cates and assistant coach Ryan Brown. It followed a Cookin’ for Coach Cook-off at the Park County Fairgrounds on Oct. 24, which was aided by the elder and younger George Laughlins.
“A lot of time and effort goes into an event like this and not just on the day of the event,” Kelly Laughlin said.
Across the two weekend events, Brandon and Tracy Gates organized live and silent auctions, which included an autographed bat used and signed by Cheyenne native Brandon Nimmo of the New York Mets. Spencer Fry wound up winning the prized bat Saturday after a heated competition.
Other auction items included homemade cookies made by Dana Worstell along with a flamingo made out of horseshoes created by Danika Fagan.
“Our cookers brought our community together for great food; our community kept us there having fun in bidding wars all in support of Tyler,” Kelly Laughlin said.
The event also featured shirts, hats and stickers with the phrase “Rub Dirt On It,” which has been a rallying cry for England’s supporters.
Additionally, a GoFundMe dedicated to England has raised $21,210, with donations continuing to come in at gofund.me/315353d2. Donations towards the $30,000 goal for Tyler can be made through the GoFundMe page — or they can be made in-person at Powell’s Pinnacle Bank.
