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Injured high school athlete battled paralyzing injury

Jaden Leiby, an injured Schuylkill League football player, visited Tamaqua High School on Tuesday and spoke on “resiliency and overcoming obstacles.”

Nobody knows the topic better than he does.

Only a few years older than the students he addressed, Leiby gave his talk while seated in a wheelchair.

He was once the quarterback of North Schuylkill High School, which at the time was one of the most powerful football teams in the region. He also was a league all-star.

He told the students how, on the Friday night of Oct. 25, 2019, his life took a dramatic turn.

The evening started on a high note, with his team playing against Pottsville in a game with major playoff ramifications. A senior at the time, he helped the team achieve a two-touchdown lead while playing on both offense and defense.

“I was at a high, playing the best game of my life,” he said.

During the third quarter while on defense, on what he described as “a routine play I made 100 times in my career,” he pursued the player carrying the ball. His helmet collided with the knee of another player, resulting in a broken neck at the C7 vertebrae, which is part of the cervical spine.

“One minute I was invincible, the next minute I was laying on my back, thinking what is my life like. I could only see the lights and a bunch of people,” he said.

A nearly incomprehensible fervor ensued, resulting in him transported by an ambulance to a hospital, flown by helicopter to a trauma center, undergoing all sorts of tests, and then told by a doctor he will never walk again. He was just 18.

The ordeal would continue. After one of his operations, his arm became paralyzed, and a doctor told him “it will never come back again.”

As he lay in that hospital bed, he thought, “A week ago I was preparing for the biggest game of my life. A week later, I’m fighting for my life.”

Throughout Leiby’s talk, the auditorium packed with students was incredibly quiet as they listened intently.

Leiby, who will be graduating from Bloomsburg University where he is majoring in elementary education, told his audience, “I believed the guy when he said there’s no hope for my right arm. I sat there and cried.”

But then, while in therapy, he said he became determined to prove them wrong.

He said despite their assessment, “It was up to me to do better.”

He worked feverishly on getting the arm working.

“I’d jump in the shower, get a bottle of body wash. Curl it. Put it over my head. Every day I got 1% better and 1% goes a long way,” he said.

He lifted his arm to show that he proved the doctor wrong.

Leiby, who also was a star baseball player, told the students, “At 18, I never used a ‘why me?’ mindset. I questioned why it happened.”

He said he came to the conclusion that one reason might be for “inspiring you guys.”

One thing that got him through his crisis is having inspiring friends. He mentioned several of those friends, some whom were lifetime friends and others who he met in therapy.

“Life went on,” he said noting that eventually he returned to school and learned to drive. He urged the students, “Live your day-to-day life as if something could happen. You don’t have to be in a wheelchair to have problems.”

He fielded questions from students, one who asked if he was angry at the player who stole his athleticism.

He said he never was angry at a person because nobody did anything on purpose or illegal.

Another student asked about the game that night against Pottsville.

He said that while playing the corner position, he was matched with a Pottsville player who happened to be a longtime friend. The two dueled and Leiby had the upper hand all night.

“We hated each other before the game, but loved each other after,” he said.

The speaker said that when he got injured, that opposing player was the first person at his side.

Another student asked if he would still play football if he could.

“I would,” he said, adding that he enjoyed playing in high school but hadn’t decided if he would pursue the sport in college.

Leiby’s advice to the students was, “If you’re nervous to do anything, that’s the time to jump in an do it. I’m nervous being up here. I was nervous driving here.”

“Overcoming obstacles is not taking life for granted,” he said. He also urged that they align with the right people.

He admitted that when the injury occurred, he had mixed emotions.

“Honestly, in the very beginning, I didn’t know how people looked at me and would be with me. Then COVID hit and I was afraid I would get sick.

“Human interaction is probably the best interaction you can get,” he said.

Leiby was introduced to the students by Dr. Stephen Toth, assistant superintendent of schools.

Jaden Leiby, who was paralyzed from a football injury in 2019, speaks to students at Tamaqua High School during an assembly program on Monday. Leiby used the theme “resiliency and overcoming obstacles” as he spoke about how students should not take life for granted.
Jaden Leiby, seated in wheelchair, who was paralyzed in 2019 while playing football, speaks with Tamaqua Middle School students, from left, Ellie Bamford, Aubry Jones, Arabella Honey, McKenzie Witkowski and Hailey Kunkel following his talk on “resiliency and overcoming obstacles” at the school on Tuesday. Leiby was a player at North Schuylkill High School when the injury occurred. RON GOWER/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS