Caden Johnston-Thompson

Joe Gaffney update. Six months ago, coming out of a 10 hour pelvic reconstruction, we were convinced basketball was over for him. Even when we left for Florida four months ago, we still felt that way. Two months ago we thought he might get a few token minutes at the very end of the season. Then things started to change. He said he wanted to play after Christmas. He made it through preseason conditioning. When practice officially started two weeks ago, he was a full participant on day one. Tonight he played in the team’s first scrimmage, and he plans to play in the season opener on December 2 at home against Ellsworth. He's still far from the player he was, but the fact that less than seven months after life saving diaphragm surgery and having 76 screws put in his reconstructed hip he is preparing to play varsity basketball is remarkable. Best case scenario was that he might run again someday. Playing a varsity game at seven months is 1 in 10,000. It is a testament to his surgeon, his physical therapists, the people of Charlevoix, the GoFundMe donors who helped make Barwis possible, the power of prayer, and most of all his tenacious work ethic. We thought it was impossible, but Joe never did. He still doesn’t see what the big deal is ... because this is exactly what he expected of himself. @BankHoops @DrewKochanny @grstormbb @CoachTroshak @Lynn_Henning @seideljeff @TonyPaul1984 @JamesCook14