Football Player Severely Injured After Bone Crushing Hit

Redmond, Calif,.-- Sixteen-year-old Pete Stenhoff was a physically fit, 210-pound linebacker for Chula Vista High School when he planted his helmet in the chest of a ball carrier two years ago. He hasn’t been able to walk since.

Medics that night rushed Stenhoff to the hospital, where he learned he had cracked vertebrae.

That one play not only affected his ability to play football again but his entire life. It caused him to drastically lose weight and he was not able to graduate with his class and has been forced to catch up on receiving his diploma by taking correspondence courses.

Stenhoff is one of 20,000 youths who are injured playing high school football each year, said Sports Medicine Magazine. Like Stenhoff, nearly 2,400 are permanently disabled. But he is luckier than some. Thirteen youths died last year as a result of their injuries on the football field.

Above: Pete Stenhoff in his football uniform before suffering his neck injury.

Critics blame the helmet as the main cause of the neck and head injuries that have caused these players to be severely injured to the point in which they can no longer walk.

Stenhoff, said he knew the risks involved when he signed up to play football but “I wish I could have known just how bad it could be.”

Below: A link to a video of Adam Taliaferro, a Penn State Football player who has recovered from a similar injury to Pete Stenhoff's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHgPymLOvU