Wyatt Jenkins focused on return to his prep career after suffering severe neck injury
By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com
The play seemed harmless enough, but the result was far from
that.
Whitehall defensive end Wyatt Jenkins had a firm grip on the
quarterback’s jersey when another Viking player came charging in from the
right. Their helmets collided and Jenkins suddenly felt like he was getting
stabbed in his arms then it went to his legs and he felt numbness. Jenkins
explained it more as a “chip” to the side of his helmet and not full
head-to-head contact. He was told it was more of a freak accident than
anything.
The action took place back in July on the second day of Veer Camp in Montrose, where the Whitehall Viking football team was preparing for another successful campaign on the gridiron.
“The first day went great,” Jenkins said. “There were no problems.”
But what happened the next day left a big hole in the Vikings’ lineup and a scary moment for Jenkins.
Jenkins thought he had suffered a “stinger” and thought he could go to the sideline for one or two plays and get right back in the action. On his way to the sideline, however, Jenkins fell to his knees and the tears began to flow.
Yes, it was that bad.
Jenkins had a similar issue during wrestling that he thought that was scary, but not so severe. At that time, he took some time off before returning. His first thought was that this episode was the same. But, it wasn’t. Far from it.
“I got kind of scared, but I thought it was just a stinger,” he said. “I said I was ready to go back in and Sig (Viking football coach Tony Sigmon) said, ‘absolutely not.’”
After a quick evaluation from the trainer on site, Jenkins was told he needed to go straight to an urgent care facility for further evaluation.
Some tests were run and it was determined the injury was serious enough to head to the hospital. It was there that MRI and CT scans were done and the news was not good. He was put into a collar to stabilize his neck and the doctors were in shock that Jenkins had walked into the hospital on his own.
Then came some really scary news from one of the surgeons. Sigmon was told had Jenkins taken another similar hit, he could have been permanently paralyzed.
As soon as that news came, Sigmon called Tom Jenkins,
Wyatt’s father, to fill him in on the seriousness of what had happened. With
that news, Tom, headed to Flint to be with, and support, his son.
“I had two fractures, one in C4 and one in C6,” Jenkins said. “C5 was shot back into the spinal cord and was pushing against that. They had to do a spinal infusion for that. Then they fused C5 and C6 together and let C4 heal on its own.”
Needless to say, the journey has been long and difficult for the junior at Whitehall High School. The strapping (almost) 6-3, 210-pound defensive end and H-back was now facing surgery and plenty of rehabilitation from his injury.
“I was asking a lot of questions,” he said. “I wanted to
know when I could get back on the field again.” It was a lot of information and
‘what ifs’ for a young man to process.
“It was a struggle for a while,” Jenkins said. “I was in a dark place for a long time, a really long time. I had people around me who pretty much came out of the blue and helped me a lot. I have my team, my family and my close friends trying to help me out of that place.”
He talks to his brother, Ira, nearly every day. Ira is a heavyweight wrestler at the University of Michigan.
“He’s been in that main circle,” Wyatt said of his older brother. “He’s been there the whole time for me. He drove down as soon as he found out and he was there when I got out of my surgery. He was there and kind of slept on my bed that night. He didn’t leave my side one bit. He’s my role model. He’s good for me.”
Within weeks, Jenkins was back at it doing some light weightlifting and exercises. He didn’t want to lose everything he had worked so hard to get.
Today, his physical training is progressing. He works out every day and that includes pushups, pull-ups and weight training. Jenkins also is pumping 5,000 calories per day into his body to regain the weight he lost during his down time. Before his injury, Jenkins was tipping the scales at 205-210, but after the injury, his weight fell as low as 168 pounds. Fortunately, through his diet and hard work, he’s back to the 200-pound mark. His daily routine includes 4-5 meals per day, he drinks 1.5 gallons of water per day and 1.5 times his body weight in protein every day.
There was no football season for Jenkins and he also lost out on his wrestling season. He spent a lot of time with his football teammates and watched them go 9-0 again during the regular season.
“It was hard at first (just watching), but I think it scared the team a little bit,” he said. “You realize it could happen to anyone on the team. They’ve done a lot for me so it was my turn to give back to them. So, all the kids that were below me, the jayvee kids and the kids who had to step up ... I tried to help as much as possible.”
The transition to the wrestling season has been no different.
“He has been coming to some practices and sitting on the bench with us and being a leader vocally for us,” said Viking wrestling coach Justin Zeerip. “He’s a part of the team and the other guys love having him around. He’s helping improve the bench energy and being a vocal leader. He’s really nice to have him around.
“He does a great job leading on the sideline,” said Zeerip. “I know he got injured this year, but he wanted to be a part of the team and it’s great to have him there.
“It was disappointing that he got hurt in football like he
did, hopefully he can make a full recovery and maybe come back as a senior next
year,” Zeerip said. “That would be awesome. We were crushed when he got hurt.”
Jenkins has a follow-up appointment this month and is hoping to return to full contact football in May. Afterall, his senior year is coming up and something that no high school athlete should have to miss. If all goes well, he may opt to throw the shot put for the Vikings’ track team this spring.
Jenkins is very good on the wrestling mat (he was all-state last year), but his first love is football. Jenkins is working hard to get his grade-point-average up to the 3.7 range. He’s got big plans if all goes well.
“I’d say a year and a half from now, if all goes well, I will be playing football in college,” said Jenkins, who has had conversations with several MAC and GLIAC schools. His dream landing spot would be the University of Michigan, but with the current situation, he’ll take anything that pops up.
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