Running routes, making tackles, and winning the game are concerns of high school football players. This was no different for 17-year-old Pete Stenhoff of Chula Vista High School. Today, it is game over for the young football player as he struggles to win a diploma and survive the game of life.
"I knew the risks involved when I decided to play football" says Stenhoff, "I wish I would have known how bad it could be." he added.
Stenhoff was seriously injured in his junior year when he rammed head on into another football players chest, cracking his vertebrae in his spine. Now confined to a wheelchair for life, he has missed the chance to graduate with his class and has to take correspondence courses in order to receive his diploma.
High school football is a dangerous activity for young students. 20,000 injuries occur within the sport each year, 12 percent of them disabling the victims. Thirteen high school players died last year and thirty-five percent of injuries were to the neck or head. Critics blame the helmets.
Stenhoff is not blaming anyone for his injuries and is not bitter. The young man will continue his fight to finish his schooling and to live a normal life.
1 comment:
Good job on this, but posted late.
15-2(late)=13/15
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