No one expects a Championship High school Football Game to end like this...
"It was a close game and then in the 3rd quarter it looked to be a screen-pass to Pottsville," recalls Schuylkill School District Athletic Director, Jim Gross, "I had the chance to watch it one time on video and I said I will never watch that again. It’s something you just--you hear about happening at other schools and you feel for those schools and you just think I hope that day never comes when we have to deal with something like that. And that all changed on Friday night. It was real. It was one of our players and we’re going through this now and it’s just a surreal thing. I almost have to keep asking myself did this really happen."
And you especially never expect it to happen to a kid like Jaden Leiby.
"You hear about car accidents and students getting hurt; never a sports injury like this. He really is an outstanding young man and touched a lot of lives so there’s a lot of love for him right now," says Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Robert Ackell, "Jaden is a football player, he’s a student-athlete, but he’s more than that. He’s a major part of our student--body; he’s a part of and involved in many different clubs and activities so it really didn’t just affect just the football team and the football community. It affected the whole North Schuylkill student body."
Friday night, North Schuylkill High School Quarterback Jaden Leiby suffered a broken neck while making a tackle on defense. The high school senior was taken off the field on a stretcher and airlifted to the hospital in the third quarter.
"He is the kind of boy that you want your own son to grow up to be like," Gross tells PBS39 News Tonight Reporter, K.C. Lopez, "He’s well loved and adored by all of his classmates, down to the kids at the elementary school, with the various clubs that he’s involved in; he’s had a lot of contact with the elementary school kids. That’s why the whole school is effected. But just a role model, he’s involved in so many activities, he’s a great athlete, just so well rounded and a quality human being."
Today, the 18 year old is in critical condition, recovering at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
"I’m sure the recovery time is going to take a while so we need people to be patient," Gross explains, "Things don’t just correct themselves overnight, but he’s in great hands in the facility that he’s in. The support that he’s getting from, not only his family, all of his friends, out football team, the entire school district. It just keeps branching out to our area and across the state even though it's made its way to national. I know it’s gotten up to NFL teams and with that kind of support, and everybody in Jaden’s corner, I think that his recovery---he’s in good spirits and I think if there is somebody in a position to come back from an injury like this, Jaden has all the characteristics of somebody that’s going to fight with everything he can to overcome the injury."
Following that hit, this community came together. This photo of Leiby on the field was posted to social media and since been shared over 2 thousand times. Team and classmates started the hashtag, #Prayersfor6 that made huge waves…
"Over the weekend I must have received about 20 or 30 emails from students with ideas about fundraising and different activities and questions about how they can get involved and what they can do to support Jaden and his family so just the student body has been great and they want to do everything they can to support Jaden," says Ackell, "Prayers for 6, because that’s one that was really taken off on social media and Jaden Strong was part of the baseball team and the baseball team came up with Jaden Strong."
And three days later, the school district jumped in; creating T-shirts and wristbands where 100% of the profits will be donated back to the Leiby family.
"There were so many people that wanted to get involved and donate and have fundraisers and we decided to help streamline it and we came up with two main fundraisers. One a t-shirt, jersey it says prayer for Jaden on the front and his name and number on the back and a rubber bracelet that has Jaden strong on it that we’re selling. We actually sent those out to our own community, our staff, our employees, our students. But we also sent it out to all of our neighboring districts and we’re receiving phone calls from northeastern, central Pennsylvania. So it really took off. We’re hoping to sell at least 10,000 t-shirts at $10 a piece," Ackell tells Lopez, "We set up a special email account just for this project and it was Jaden@NorthSchuylkill.net and I can tell you it’s only been live for about 24 hours and we’ve received a couple hundred emails already with school districts, organizations, youth programs, requesting 40, 50, 60 shirts, hundred wristbands. The orders are just coming in and we don’t even have the product because we just placed the order yesterday."
North Schuylkill left that Division I Championship game with a win. But, the team here in Ashland says, they know it’ll be a tough road to a real victory off the field.
"Life can change in an instant; your whole world can either change or be taken from you basically in the blink of an eye," says Gross, "Love and support one another, show compassion; and I think we’re seeing that in the outpouring from our students, from surrounding communities, that when things do get tough, you need to stick together. That’s how you get through things. Nobody can do things alone. Jaden can’t recover on his own, he needs the support of all of us and everybody behind him, saying prayers and well wishes. That’s a big lesson. How to come together when times call for it."
But with a team like this in your corner, it’s safe to say this play is far from over.
Got a news tip? Email K.C. Lopez at KCLopez@WLVT.org