Auction to help athlete

The South Huntington Beach Girls Fastpitch Softball League will turn its opening day of the season into a fundraiser for 16-year-old Natalie Buchoz.

Natalie suffered a spinal injury in a skiing accident Jan. 29, and the avid softball player is now partially paralyzed.

The Edison High School student was finally able to come home from the hospital on Valentine’s Day. The softball league she grew up playing in will host a silent auction to off-set the Buchoz family’s medical costs.

Tad Buchoz, Natalie’s father, said the family has been very touched by how the community has helped. Friends and family have delivered meals to the Buchozes three or four nights a week, he said.

“Our family is just completely at a loss for words with our gratitude,” Buchoz said. “The support that we receive from the community has allowed us to focus all our energy on the healing of our Natalie.”

The silent auction will help the family build a downstairs bedroom for Natalie, whose bedroom is upstairs and not wheelchair accessible. It will also help the family with the long-term costs of therapy.

Buchoz said Natalie has focused her tough athletic psyche on healing.

“As a girl who’s played sports her whole life she’s had a really aggressive, attacking mentality. She attacks therapy like a practice or a game,” Buchoz said.

The softball league is familiar with Natalie’s winning attitude. League President Steve Caswell said they have made “Nattitude” bracelets in the vein of Lance Armstrong’s “Livestrong” campaign.

Caswell said the auction just seemed like the right thing to do for a family that has been so involved in the softball league.

“Not only did Natalie grow up playing in our league, her mother, Nancy, used to be president,” Caswell said. “Most of us know her family really well. It was a heartfelt decision for us.”

The silent auction will have about 80 gift baskets to bid on. Caswell said people and organizations from around Southern California donated to the cause. Many of the items up for auction are sports-related. There are Lakers, Angels and Ducks tickets, even a basketball signed by famed coach John Wooden. Surfboards and beach apparel will be on the block. There will be themed packages as well, such as baskets of USC and UCLA gear.

The auction is scheduled for Saturday, but it will move to March 1 if it rains. For more information on the auction, visit www.caringbridge.org/ visit/nataliebuchoz.