A North Boone football player who was carted off the field during a playoff game Friday at Richmond-Burton Community High School is home “safe, sore and very thankful…”
In a post to the Lake & McHenry County Facebook site, Erin Crowley said the 16-year-old running back who was injured in the third quarter of the playoff game was home.
“Thank you everyone. He is home, safe, sore, and very thankful to all of you,” she said in her post. “All his imaging came back negative and he will make a full recovery. We are truly humbled and do not have all the words to express how thankful we are to God and for all the prayers.”
Richmond Township Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Scott Peterson said emergency medical personnel were on standby with an ambulance at Richmond-Burton Community High School at 8311 Route 31 for a football game against North Boone High School when the 16-year-old male juvenile was hurt during a play at 8:39 p.m. Friday.
Peterson said the athletic training staff requested assistance from EMS personnel for the traumatic injury to the player after he was tackled during a play and remained down on the field.
The team’s training staff initially attended to the player, Peterson said, before requesting assistance from EMS personnel.
The player was conscious and alert when EMS personnel arrived on the field, Peterson said.
Peterson said the injured player complained of neck and back pain and a loss of sensation in his lower extremities.
A Mercy Health MD-1 and a medical helicopter were requested to assist and transport the player to the hospital, Peterson said. A Mercy Health MD-1 is a mobile response doctor who responds from the hospital to assist EMS personnel in the field.
Unfortunately, the MD-1 was unavailable at the time of the injury, Peterson said.
The LifeNet medical helicopter landed at the Richmond Township Fire Protection District firehouse and airlifted the player to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Peterson said.
Stephanie Johnson, a friend of the family, initially shared a post on the Lake & McHenry County Scanner Facebook page from Crowley that said the player suffered a traumatic spinal injury and went through many tests and imaging.
Crowley’s post added Saturday, “all his tests came back negative, meaning he did not suffer any fractures of his spine, no tears, no muscle issues and the loss of sensation he was feeling on the field last night has subsided.”
The player was in good spirits and ready to head home, Crowley’s post continued Saturday.
In a subsequent story, Crowley gave an update to parents to thank everyone.
Richmond-Burton High School was leading North Boone by a score of 49-0 in the first round of the IHSA playoffs when the player was injured.
Because of the injury, North Boone High School coaches elected to end the game with Richmond-Burton leading in the third quarter.