In late July Matt Bollig, a junior quarterback on the football team, was lifting weights when his leg gave out and, as Head Football Coach Kent Kessinger phrased it, he sat down with the weight on his back. In the accident, Bollig dislocated and fractured his vertebrae and dislocated his spine.
Bollig said when he first found out he would no longer be playing football, he was in a state of awe.
“I am limited in what I can do now, but I’m open to many new things I can accomplish,” he said. “It has closed some physical doors but has also opened some doors mentally and some physically.”
Senior running back Michael Baer was with Bollig at the time of the accident. Baer said he was speechless.
“I told him not to get too hung up on not being able to play ball anymore,” he said. “I told him he still has a lot of life to live and to keep a positive attitude.”
Sophomore Amy Weilert, who has been dating Bollig for four years, said she also went to the hospital the night of the accident.
“I’ve been with him from the beginning,” Weilert said. “I’ve seen it all.”
Weilert said the doctors told Bollig every person responds differently to a back injury. It is possible that he will not walk again, but then again he could be able to walk in a year. She said Bollig is determined to walk again.
“If he thinks he can, I know he can,” Weilert said. “He has the right attitude for this situation. He’s an awesome guy. He’s going to make it out alright, and I think he knows that.”
Kessinger said he believes Bollig is starting to look at things differently and realizing there are things he can do outside of athletics.
“His whole life up until now has basically been about athletics,” Kessinger said. “He’s learned that there are a lot of things that he can accomplish outside of athletics.”
Baer said despite the injuries, Bollig is being positive about the situation.
“The first thing he said to me was ‘I’ll walk again,’” Baer said.
Bollig said it will take time before he knows how well he will recover.
“I’m just going to bust my butt for good,” Bollig said.
Bollig has many people supporting him as he recovers. The community has responded by raising money to help pay for hotel and hospital bills. Bracelet and t-shirts have also been sold.
Kessinger said he keeps in contact with Bollig and calls him before games.
The football team made a wooden axe with Bollig’s name on it that they carry to every game. The axe includes a quote from Abraham Lincoln saying ‘If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first four sharpening the axe.’
“After Matt got hurt, we told everybody at the hospital to keep sharpening the axe,” Baer said.
This year, Baer will wear Bollig’s number.
“After he got hurt, I was talking to him on the phone, and I said ‘It would be cool if the team took turns wearing your jersey,’” he said. “He said ‘How ‘bout you just wear it?’ So I’m really just doing it for Matt. I think it makes me play harder. It gives me more to play for.”