I think if you don't play at all you don't lose a year of competition regardless of the reason. You do lose one of your 5 years of NCAA D1 eligibility once the clock has started. At the CA JCs even a single inning of playing time results in losing a year of competition. One CA JC has a player who played 6 or 7 innings at a D1 listed as a freshman while a player who only played 1 inning at the JC is a sophmore. I don't know if there was a hardship.
I don't know what the hardship rules are at CA JCs.