As a Hartland High School junior varsity boys lacrosse coach continues to recover from brain surgery, friends and a group of players braved the cold Saturday morning to collect about 5,000 bottles in area neighborhoods to help pay his medical bills.

A little over a month after an in-home accident, Steve Crotty is back at work while slowly increasing his hours and doing great, according to friends of the family.

“He worked every day this past week,” family friend Sandy Enderle said. “It’s slow for him, but he came in every day and worked good solid days.”

Mark Enderle, who was also out helping to load collected cans in Autumn Woods subdivision on Saturday, works with Crotty at Kubinec Strapping Solutions in Genoa Township. He said a Dec. 27 surgery has helped reduced swelling.

“If he didn’t have staples in his head, you wouldn’t even really notice,” Mark Enderle said. “But those come out on Sunday and he comes back on Monday, and he’s looking for a full week next week.”

Although Crotty still has some restrictions that do not allow driving or heavy lifting, the side effects from his surgeries are minimal with his memory completely intact.

“If you look at it from Dec. 4 when this all happened to now, the extent of his injury, he has done remarkable,” Mark Enderle said. “To be back working again, it’s amazing.”

Once he has clearance from his doctors, Crotty will be back on the road again as a sales representative. The family, however, still faces medical bills from his weeks spent at the University of Michigan Hospital. The money collected from Saturday’s bottle drive will go toward helping pay bills not covered by the family's limited health insurance at the time of the accident. Donations can be directed to the Steve Crotty Medical Fund, LOC Federal Credit Union, 10002 Highland Rd.

Organizers were grateful for all contributions and the help of an employee at Walmart, who helped empty the group empty bins and hauling bottles as they were deposits were collected.

“The community support has been unbelievable,” said family friend Nancy Holka who helped drive lacrosse players collecting bottles through the San Marino subdivsion. “It’s been wonderful. It’s a great place to live.”