BEAVERTON, Ore. (KOIN) — It was the darkest period of Matt LaBore’s life.
In August of 2017, his pregnant wife, Ashley, who he’d known since they were in high school, got sick. She had a blood infection that started to shutdown her organs. She had to give birth to their daughter, Paicy, earlier than expected.
“In post-pregnancy she had some bleeding that led to E. coli,” Matt recalled.
Several months later, Ashley passed away. It was unexpected and devastating for Matt and his two daughters. But he knew Ashley — who he described as always optimistic and someone who put making a difference at the top of her to-do list — would want him to move forward.
Now, Matt is doing everything he can to keep Ashley’s light shining through a sport she loved and coached. He started the Ashley LaBore Memorial Softball Tournament, which will benefit three organizations she supported.
“I think the biggest thing for my family is keeping her memory alive,” Matt said. “She was very devoted to children, being a mentor to youth, as well as foster children.”
The tournament will also raise money for the Maddi Higgins scholarship foundation. Higgins was a junior softball player at West Linn High School when she was killed in a car accident in 2014.
The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 21-23 at Hillsboro Stadium and teams from all over the Pacific Northwest will play. He hopes to make it an annual event, and one day maybe his two daughters — 1-year-old Paicy and 7-year-old Paityn — can play in the tournament in honor of their Mom.
“Ashley was an amazing person,” Matt said, “and I’m focused — and we’re focused as a group — on keeping her light burning.”