In August 2014, disaster struck for senior Austin Riles. He suffered a seizure early in the year, leaving the left side of his body temporarily paralyzed.

Riles was born with arteriovenous malformations (AVM). This is a debilitating condition that affects the circulatory system, caused by veins and arteries being tangled up and an absence of capillaries creates a small space for blood to flow through.

Riles was hospitalized shortly after, missing more than a month of school.

In his absence, Classics coach Betty Buchner came up with an idea to raise awareness of AVM and money for the Riles family: she suggested that the school should hold an event to raise money for Riles and his family. The event that came to be was the inaugural Cy Ranch faculty basketball game.

Though his condition was severe, Riles quickly recovered from his impairment.

“I was only in the hospital for like a month and they thought I was going to be in there for a year,” he said.

Fast forward to Friday, Apr. 17, and the stage was set for an epic battle between faculty teams Code Blue and 24 Karat. About 1,000 students showed up to watch the game that Friday as they got to see their faculty shoot some hoops while raising money for the Riles family.

The game ended with Code Blue narrowly wining 57-56. In the end though, the only stat that mattered was the $4,000 raised from t-shirt and ticket sales for Riles and his family. This event brought the student body and faculty together for a great cause.

Though this past year has been long for Riles, his future is looking up.

“I feel good,” he said. “I don’t know why they thought  I was so special to do multiple benefits for me. I appreciate it, I really do.”