On Oct. 17, the entire student body came together to support one cause: “Camo 4 Cody.” Almost every student was covered from head to toe with different “camo” clothing. After a car accident involving Senior Emily Parish and Sophomores Marshal McBride, Kyleigh Zedak, and Cody Zedak on Oct. 13, Cody was hospitalized. Friends and family decided that awareness should be spread throughout the school.
As Cody remains in the hospital, the amount of support Freedom has shown for him is outstanding. Awareness days have allowed for students to become involved as FHS pulls together in support for Cody.
“This is going to go on for a while…There are a lot of things the family is going to need support with,” Principal Mr. Timothy Dadich said. Dadich is prepared for more awareness days to happen down the road for the Zedak family. Money jars are now placed at local establishments so that the rest of the community can get involved.
According to Zedak’s sister, Sophomore Kyleigh Zedak, the VFD is planning on raising money through a spaghetti dinner and Chinese auction around the beginning of December. There are also camouflage shirts for sale, which can be ordered over the “Camo 4 Cody” webpage on Facebook or by seeing Kyleigh directly. By the time spring comes around, there will be a biker benefit with a few bands playing a free concert.
Currently, Cody is in a coma and has endured surgery with more to follow in the future.
“I had practically melted down,” Kyleigh Zedak said. “Camo 4 Cody” day greatly affected her. “I couldn’t believe everyone actually cared…I pretty much wanted to stand there and cry and say thank you.”
Mr. Dadich stresses the fact that he believes that the student body of FHS is a family. He wasn’t surprised that nearly everyone wore camo because he knew we would be able to come together for something so important. “Not everybody here talked to Cody…but again he is still a part of our family. You have your own personal family you might not talk to all the time but what counts is it impacts the entire family. They might not know Cody, but they might know Kyleigh; they might know Marshal and they’re affected by it. In the end we’re all affected. It’s one of our family members,” Dadich said in response to all the support that had been shown.
Though this is an unfortunate situation, the student body is coming together for one cause: to show support and love for a brother and a sister. One day, Cody will be able to see everything his peers have done for him and his family, and even though he may not be fully aware as of the moment, it’ll have a great effect on him. Continue to wear camo for Cody, even if it’s not a designated day. Be the person who goes out and donates. Buy a shirt, and show all the love you can for the Zedak family.