HAMDEN – Austin Hill is a typical teenage boy from Colorado with a love for the game of rugby. Unfortunately, he is stricken with Cystic Fibrosis and is unable to play the sport any longer. In addition, his mother is a cancer survivor, his father has just been diagnosed with cancer, and his sister has MS.
When the Quinnipiac Rugby team heard his story, they immediately committed to The Austin Hill Project, with a goal to use their combined love of rugby to raise $31,000. Each month Austin is in the hospital, a typical medical bill is $275,000 for medicine, medical treatment, and transportation, which a breakdown copay of $31,000.
In addition, Quinnipiac Rugby created two teams to compete online and in social media to raise the funds to bring Austin and his family out for their QU vs. Harvard game, including covering lodging, meals, and a service dog with paid-in-full training so he has a friend to keep him company during his long hospital stays.
So far, with the support of many local businesses and online donation, the QU team has raised over $8,000, purchased plane tickets for Austin and his family, have arranged to have local restaurants foot his meals, The Clarion to donate weekend lodging, Enterprise to donate a rental car, and Stop & Shop to donate gift cards so Austin can maintain his two-hour eating schedule. In addition, Bread and Chocolate has amassed a check of $500, plus all of March’s tips to present to Austin and his family for incidentals.
For more information on how you can help, click here.
