Injured Athlete- Prayers Needed

Parent Cafe
21

<p>From today’s NY Times:</p>

<p>An 18-year-old New Jersey high school senior suffered a severe brain injury when he was blocked and knocked unconscious near the end of a weekend football game. He was in critical condition yesterday at Morristown Memorial Hospital, doctors said.</p>

<p>The senior, Kurt Socha, a linebacker and co-captain of the Blair Academy team, was injured in Saturday night’s game against the Hill School from Pottstown, Pa., said Chandler Hardwick, headmaster of Blair, a private school in Blairstown, N.J.</p>

<p>Mr. Socha, who wore No. 50, was blocked by an opposing player in the last four minutes of the game, Mr. Hardwick said. His helmet was on at the time, and no penalty was called on the play.</p>

<p>“I think Kurt didn’t see the boy, so his guard wasn’t up,” Mr. Hardwick said.</p>

<p>Mr. Socha’s mother, father and two brothers have stayed at the hospital, hospital officials said. After Mr. Socha was airlifted from the field, he underwent surgery to remove a piece of skull to relieve pressure on the brain, Mr. Hardwick said.</p>

<p>The rest of the game was canceled and Blair declared the winner, 35-20.</p>

<p>Of more than one million high school football players in 2004, four died of brain injuries, said Bruce Howard of the National Federation of High School Sports Associations. Statistics for high school and pre-high-school football show that in 2003, two players died of brain injuries; three high school players died of brain injuries in 2002, five in 2001 and one in 2000, Mr. Howard said.</p>

<p>Since 1983 there have been 553 fatal, debilitating and severe injuries in high school football, Mr. Howard said, the highest number in any high school sport. “I don’t think there’s any question that football is the roughest sport,” he said. Track and field is second, with 55, he said.</p>

<p>On Sunday night Blair students gathered and prayed for Mr. Socha, a popular and confident young man with broad shoulders and a curly mop of dark brown hair, Mr. Hardwick said.</p>

<p>“You have no idea what he means to this community,” he said.</p>

<p>Mr. Socha excelled in mathematics, ceramics and Chinese, Mr. Hardwick said, and applied last week for early admission to the University of Rochester, where he hoped to study Chinese. He also played first base on the school’s baseball team.</p>

<p>Students at the Hill School also prayed for Mr. Socha and his family at a morning chapel service yesterday, said Cathy Skitko, director of communications for the school. She added that the player who hit Mr. Socha visited with a counselor yesterday.</p>

<p>“He is very, very sad about this,” Ms. Skitko said.</p>

<p>Mr. Hardwick said he had images of the hit deleted from videos of the game with the concurrence of Mr. Socha’s father, Ray Socha, of Blairstown.</p>

<p>“Neither he nor I believe that reviewing the hit itself is going to be helpful,” Mr. Hardwick said. “Ray Socha is adamant to not go there, and not turn this into a vilification of this boy who blocked Kurt.”</p>

22

<p>MWC,</p>

<p>My nephew is currently in the ICU in a Detroit suburb due to a football accident. He caught a pass at the goal line and while being tackled took a helmet in the gut which caused severe liver damage.</p>

<p>As we pray for our nephew we will remember your son’s friend.</p>

23

<p>many prayers for your nephew, Woodwork and continued ones for the Socha family.</p>

24

<p>MomofWildChild,
My prayers go out to this boy and his family. We’re not far from you and have some experience with brain surgeries and cervical fusions. Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside is a wonderful inpatient facility if one is eventually needed. I also know several top neurosurgeons, if references are needed.</p>

25

<p>Woodwork-that is terrible. I hope your nephew recovers well. My thoughts and prayers are with him, too.</p>

<p>I am having so much trouble grasping that a young athlete can be playing a Saturday afternoon football game and the next minute he is in a coma. Both the Blair and the Hill communities are getting tremendous support and are working together. I feel so helpless sitting down here in Texas.</p>

26

<p>MomofWildChild, are you from Blairstown, NJ? If so, are you familiar with the “Princess Doe” case of 1982? This is something that has always interested me. I’d be interested to see what kind of perspective a local has on the story.</p>

<p>Anyway, the injured athlete(s) (both yours and Woodwork’s) are in my prayers. I’ve got a friend who was injured last year and I keep praying for her recovery even today because she is still rehabilitiating after a few surgeries, so I know what road you’re going down. She wasn’t in a coma, but I can only imagine the stress of this situation.</p>

27

<p>I am not from NJ, but my son attends Blair (boarding). Not familiar with the Princess Doe case. </p>

<p>No update on Kurt’s condition.</p>

28

<p>I will keep these boys in my prayers and ask that ya’ll add a boy to this prayer chain (it works). He is on my 8th grade son’s team and 13 years old. Three weeks ago during a game, he and another boy on the team were going for a fumble and their helmets collided. At the time, it did not seem like either one was that hurt, they both got up and walked off the field. One of the boys was a bit woosy, so his parents took him to the hospital. It was apparent that he had some memory loss, but they did not know how extensive it was. When they got home he could not find his room, when he returned to school, he did not know where his classes were and did not recognize some of his friends, obviously the memory loss is extensive. He has been diagnosed with amnesia and has been taken out of school to work with therapists to try to get back the memory that he has lost.</p>

29

<p>I saw in yesterday’s paper that the boy’s condition is still critical - which is typical of brain swelling. He’s had surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain. </p>

<p>Kessler Institite is another great facility here in NJ. This one is an adult rehab hospital. In patient rehab is often needed after a brain injury.</p>

30

<p>Prayers going out to this young man! Also prayers going out to the young man who inadvertantly caused this tragedy. God bless them both. Please keep us posted on his condition.</p>

31

<p>Saturday November 5, 2005</p>

<p>Kurt’s condition remains the same, critical. He is not worse. He is not better. We sit moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, and wait with hope. We remind ourselves, and you, there is always hope, and there is always room for a miracle. For today, this is all we have to cling to.</p>

<p>We would again like to thank everyone for your undying support – the kids & faculty & families of Blair, the Blairstown community, the church community, the strangers near and far from cities & countries all over the world, endless football teams, and schools, the NY Giants, especially Tiki Barber – it’s just been amazing. We feel so proud of Kurt for touching so many people, and we are so moved by your tremendous support.</p>

<p>The Socha Family</p>

32

<p>Tuesday November 15, 2005
It is with deep pain that we come to inform you that Kurt did not make it. He passed away this afternoon surrounded by those who love him most, his entire family.</p>

<p>It is our belief that God must have more work for him to do, bigger plans for him, but not from here on earth, from up above. Perhaps he will be our angel.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for being there for us with all your love & support, over the past two difficult weeks. We are truly grateful.</p>

<p>The Socha Family</p>

<p>Funeral arrangements will be posted</p>

33

<p>Oh, MomofWildChild, we bleed for the Sochas, for the community, for you and your son. My heart goes out to you all.</p>

34

<p>How tragic. I am so sorry for you, your son, the Socha family and your community. A loss like this affects everyone.</p>

35

<p>momofwildchild, I am so sorry to hear this. How heartbreaking</p>

36

<p>How sad. My condolences to his family and classmates.</p>

37

<p>My prayers are with the Socha family, but also with the young man who was on the opposing team. It’s just a tragic situation for everyone involved.</p>

38

<p>This is so sad. My cousin had a very serious football injury a few weeks ago. He was in the ICU for a week and a half but he has recovered well and we are all so happy and thankful. I would have wished your friend would have come back too, momofwildchild. </p>

<p>God bless him.</p>

39

<p>So sorry to hear this. Thoughts are with his family, as well as the family of the opposing player.</p>

40

<p>The opposing player is the son of my sister’s boss, and has signed with Duke for lacrosse. He is a talented athlete, and is simply devastated about this. He did play in the last two football games, scoring 4 touchdowns on Saturday. This is the kind of thing that could have happened to anybody, but when you are the one who delivered a block that wound up costing someone his life, it is something you carry with you for the rest of your life. I just can’t believe it.</p>