Many of us, and we all will at some time, have had a life changing event occur in our lives that changed the course of our destiny. These events usually make us step back and look at life differently than before. They sometimes give us wisdom and a strong desire to succeed in ways we could never had imagined. Others send us into a downward spiral that infiltrates every part of our lives. In many cases the same event could be the cause of either scenario. That's all determined on how we personally choose to use the event.
One such event happened to me on December 11, 1965 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Our high school football team, the Plano Wildcats, was only one game away from reaching the state AA championship game. We stepped on the field that night against a strong, highly favored team, the Iowa Park Hawks. Most papers were picking the Hawks by two touchdowns and to be the northern Texas representative in the title game.
The year had started out rough for me. I had had three injuries, a bad ankle sprain that hobbled me in the first game, a broken collar bone in another game kept me out another 6 weeks and a bad hip bruise that sidelined me in yet another. But this was my senior year and I loved football so I'd try to get back in the groove in the midst of these trials. As a result of all the injuries and having to be replaced at tailback I was now placed in the position of offensive and defensive end. I must have been about the smallest defensive end in the state at 5'7" and 150 lbs. (Of course the 150 lbs was what was on the program which was a slight exaggeration of 7 or 8 lbs.).
The event that changed my life happened in the first quarter with the score tied 0-0. On this particular play my job was to cover the split end to my side and turn any runner to the inside to trap him in the midst of our pursing line. On this particular play Iowa Parks top runner came around the end and I held my position to turn him inside. As he came around the end the runner didn't have much of a choice. He could either turn up field into a group of 6' 190 lb. linemen or challenge me and my much smaller stature. I held my position, planted by cleats in the sod and took him on planting my head firmly in his stomach.
The next thing I remember is a slow motion fall backwards. I don't remember being knocked out, but when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw were coaches hovering
over me. To the best of my recollection the first thing that I said was "I can't move coach". There was no panic, no fear and oddly enough no pain., but I was paralyzed from the neck down. The coach's response to my comment was "You're just scared". Looking back on it I think he was the one scared. I just couldn't move.
The paralysis lasted a short time I'm guessing since before long I could move my leg. My concern at the time was holding up the game so I asked the coaches to carry me off the field. This act in itself could have been devastating due to the later findings. At the sideline our manager helped me to the bench. A short time later the coach asked if I was ready to go back into the game. I raised about 6 inches off the bench and sat back down. I had no strength to stand up. It was then that the doctor came down and decided that I needed to be taken to the hospital.
I had broken my neck, the 5th cervical vertebrae. The word I heard from the doctor was "crushed". I was lucky to able to move at all. Football was over. The ordeal that followed would be tough for an eighteen year old. I'll discuss that in the following post. Yet I'm blessed with a full recovery. So many others have not been as fortunate. To this day when I see someone hurt on the football field the first thing I look at is their legs. As they lie still on the turf I look for sign of movement. If he moves his leg I have a sigh of relief.
I have seen other boys loose the ability to use their arms or legs because of such an accident and I hurt for them and with them. I always think, "that could be me!"
I do not know why I was so fortunate. I do know however that it changed the way I view life. God gives us this short life and we can use it for all sorts of things. The one thing we never know is exactly how long we have to accomplish them. We can use our life to make a difference or we can waste it. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything.,"a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and an time to laugh, at time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, at time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
The decision on how we use life changing events is up to us. They are a time to pay attention.
Oh, by the way we won the game 40-8!
One such event happened to me on December 11, 1965 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Our high school football team, the Plano Wildcats, was only one game away from reaching the state AA championship game. We stepped on the field that night against a strong, highly favored team, the Iowa Park Hawks. Most papers were picking the Hawks by two touchdowns and to be the northern Texas representative in the title game.
The year had started out rough for me. I had had three injuries, a bad ankle sprain that hobbled me in the first game, a broken collar bone in another game kept me out another 6 weeks and a bad hip bruise that sidelined me in yet another. But this was my senior year and I loved football so I'd try to get back in the groove in the midst of these trials. As a result of all the injuries and having to be replaced at tailback I was now placed in the position of offensive and defensive end. I must have been about the smallest defensive end in the state at 5'7" and 150 lbs. (Of course the 150 lbs was what was on the program which was a slight exaggeration of 7 or 8 lbs.).
The event that changed my life happened in the first quarter with the score tied 0-0. On this particular play my job was to cover the split end to my side and turn any runner to the inside to trap him in the midst of our pursing line. On this particular play Iowa Parks top runner came around the end and I held my position to turn him inside. As he came around the end the runner didn't have much of a choice. He could either turn up field into a group of 6' 190 lb. linemen or challenge me and my much smaller stature. I held my position, planted by cleats in the sod and took him on planting my head firmly in his stomach.
The next thing I remember is a slow motion fall backwards. I don't remember being knocked out, but when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw were coaches hovering
over me. To the best of my recollection the first thing that I said was "I can't move coach". There was no panic, no fear and oddly enough no pain., but I was paralyzed from the neck down. The coach's response to my comment was "You're just scared". Looking back on it I think he was the one scared. I just couldn't move.The paralysis lasted a short time I'm guessing since before long I could move my leg. My concern at the time was holding up the game so I asked the coaches to carry me off the field. This act in itself could have been devastating due to the later findings. At the sideline our manager helped me to the bench. A short time later the coach asked if I was ready to go back into the game. I raised about 6 inches off the bench and sat back down. I had no strength to stand up. It was then that the doctor came down and decided that I needed to be taken to the hospital.
I had broken my neck, the 5th cervical vertebrae. The word I heard from the doctor was "crushed". I was lucky to able to move at all. Football was over. The ordeal that followed would be tough for an eighteen year old. I'll discuss that in the following post. Yet I'm blessed with a full recovery. So many others have not been as fortunate. To this day when I see someone hurt on the football field the first thing I look at is their legs. As they lie still on the turf I look for sign of movement. If he moves his leg I have a sigh of relief.
I have seen other boys loose the ability to use their arms or legs because of such an accident and I hurt for them and with them. I always think, "that could be me!"
I do not know why I was so fortunate. I do know however that it changed the way I view life. God gives us this short life and we can use it for all sorts of things. The one thing we never know is exactly how long we have to accomplish them. We can use our life to make a difference or we can waste it. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything.,"a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and an time to laugh, at time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, at time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
The decision on how we use life changing events is up to us. They are a time to pay attention.
Oh, by the way we won the game 40-8!
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