GRAFTON — “Everyone dreams of playing their senior year, and going under the Friday night lights.”
Dylan has loved playing football since he was in the 3rd grade. That love was evident in the way he trained, practiced and played.
“He was smaller than any other kid I coached on the defensive line. But he was the toughest. He worked the hardest and we were going to build the defense around him because of how hard he worked,” said Kevin Radigan, Assistant Football Coach for the Middies.
“I was very excited for this year,” Dylan said.
And then life took a turn. The toughest player on the Midview team faced the biggest challenge in his young life.
It was August 12th, 2017. Dylan was preparing for his senior year of football. The team was scrimmaging Buckeye. Dylan, who normally played defense, was filling in on the offensive line. In a freak accident, Dylan’s head was driven back.
“I heard the snap. I went down to the ground.”
The force of the collision snapped Dylan’s head back. He fell to his knees, unable to move his upper body.
“I couldn’t feel my upper body at the time. I couldn’t move my head or neck or anything”.
His coaches, teammates, and trainer were by his side, urging him not to move. And while they waited for the EMT’s to arrive, it was Dylan who was putting everyone at ease. Cracking jokes.
“You got to bring the positive out of the negative.”
The ambulance took Dylan to Southwest Hospital where his mom Heather is a registered nurse. A broken vertebra was confirmed. A teardrop fracture of the C-5 to be exact. The feeling in his upper body had returned. But he would still need surgery. And his football days were over.
“I lost something that day that I will never get back.”
It was his mom who broke the news to Dylan. His coaches were at the hospital too, for moral support. “They came and saw me and I knew they were going to be by my side. I really appreciate that so it made everything much easier,” Dylan said.
“That was the first time I’ve dealt with an injury quite like that, had one of my players injured that badly,” said Midview Football Coach D.J.Shaw. “From the moment he was lying there joking on the field, at the hospital going through surgery, you just don’t know how someone’s going to react like that. He handled everything like a champ and we are really proud of him.”
Dylan was transferred to University Hospitals in Cleveland where he underwent surgery the next day.
“The surgery happened around 1 or 2. I woke up around 7.”
The day after surgery, “the doctor said if you can get up start walking, you can leave. So I said, ‘okay get me up.”
But Dylan didn’t want to go home. He wanted to go back to his team.
“His mom texted me and said she was going to bring him up. I was like ‘oh my gosh!’ He is tough, mentally and physically. He is about as tough as they come,” said Coach Shaw.
His coaches say Dylan was there for every practice and every game. Helping his teammates, encouraging and coaching. During games, he sat in the press box with Assistant Coach Radigan, who also happened to be his track coach. Immediately after the injury, Dylan told Coach Radigan, “I’m going to be back for track”.
The neck brace wouldn’t come off for six to eight weeks. And even then, his activity would be limited. There were doubters. But Dylan never did. Not for one minute.
“Mentally I knew I was going to have to prepare myself, to know that was I was never going to play football again, in the sport that I had loved. But you shouldn’t ask yourself why. You should ask yourself ‘what now”.
Dylan worked out every day, under the watchful eye of his trainer. Then in March, 7 months after breaking his neck, doctors gave Dylan the green light. He was cleared for track practice and cleared to throw the shot put again.
“He deserves all the success in the world,” said Coach Radigan.
And success came last month. Dylan’s previous p.r. his junior year topped 40 feet. During a meet, Dylan hit 43 feet, breaking the school record.
“To put on 3 feet while suffering a terrible neck injury is quite impressive,” said Radigan.
But you won’t hear Dylan talk about his record or any of his achievements. His best characteristic may be his humility and grace. Coach Radigan fondly recalls the time he and Dylan spent talking to another student after school one day. The student was going through a difficult time. Dylan was there, to listen and encourage. “Dylan kept saying ‘it’s not that bad. You can overcome anything.’ And he continues to do that for other people,” Radigan recalled.
A teen role model, by example, for fellow athletes and students. He is active in Lorain County’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And next fall he will attend Tiffin University on an academic scholarship.
WATCH | See our full interview with Dylan in the player below:
