Regardless of what the scoreboard read at the end of the junior varsity football game in Pittsboro Thursday night, the Northwood Chargers were going to come out winners regardless.
One week after Orange running back Thys Oldenburg suffered a serious head injury against Hillside, leaving him in a medically-induced coma, the Northwood staff made sure they could make an impact financially.
On Thursday night, Northwood created towels to raise money for Oldeburg’s medical expenses. 65 of them sold out in less than a half hour.
In addition, Orange handbands readying “Pray 4 Tyce” are being sold at Orange High and will be made available at Friday night’s varsity Homecoming game against Northwood.
After the game, the two teams gathered to pray together for Oldenburg at the 50-yard line.
The latest update on Oldenburg came from Caroline Oldenburg, who said there were some very promising signs on Thursday. Earlier in the day, she wrote that Wednesday night was a roller coaster evening. Thys was stricken with a fever that increases his blood pressure. He was given antibiotics to get rid of the infection in his lungs. He remains unconscious at Duke University Hospital as of Thursday night.
As of early Friday morning, the GoFundMe Page for Thys had reached $20,500 of a $100,000 goal. That included an anonymous donation of $5,000 that came in early Friday morning.