Newport Gulls Host Heather Abbott Night Tuesday

Written by Olga Enger

The Newport Gulls are partnering with Bridge to Fitness to raise funds in support of Heather Abbott, a Newport resident who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing, by hosting Heather Abbott Night at Cardines Field on Tuesday, July 30.

All donations and proceeds from the 50/50 raffle collected on the night of the game will go directly to the Heather Abbott Recovery Fund.   

Abbott, 38, has lived in Newport for over five years and works as a human resources manager at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Portsmouth. She was among the more than 260 people injured after two bombs went off April 15 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

After attending the Boston Red Sox game on Marathon Monday, Abbott was waiting in line outside of a restaurant with a group of her friends near the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the explosions occurred. Abbott was rushed to Brigham and Women’s Hospital with severe injuries to her left foot. After four surgeries, she made the decision to let surgeons amputate her left leg below the knee and have a prosthetic replace her foot and lower leg. After two weeks in the hospital, Abbott was transferred to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center where she remained, recovering and undergoing physical therapy until returning home in June.

Abbott, who has been a member of Bridge to Fitness since arriving in Newport, leads an active lifestyle and hopes to continue her hobbies which include running, yoga and aerobics with the help of prosthetics. All of the money raised at Cardines Field on the night of the game will go towards paying medical expenses and to cover the cost of prosthetics, which regularly cost anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 and need to be replaced every few years.

The Newport Gulls will host their in-state rivals, the Ocean State Waves, for the final time in the regular season at Cardines Field, located in scenic downtown Newport on America’s Cup Avenue across from the Newport Visitors Center, on Tuesday, July 30. Gates open at 5 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tickets to the game are on sale now at the following Aquidneck Island retailers: Bridge to Fitness, Clements’ Marketplace, Helly Hansen, Edible Arrangements, Olympic Physical Therapy and Pink Pineapple in Portsmouth. If you are interested in purchasing tickets in advance of game day, please contact Lisa Cecchi of Bridge to Fitness at (401) 619-0709.

Tickets can be purchased at the Cardines Field ticket booth on the day of the game. General Admission tickets for adults 18 and over are $4. Military and senior citizen tickets as well as children aged 13-18 are $2. Children 12 and under are $1.