This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
An Illinois high school track athlete suffered an unimaginable injury while warming up for the triple jump at a meet last month.
Dylan Westcott, of Rock Falls High School, broke his neck in a freak accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. The 18-year-old has been rehabbing at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and has been able to sit in a wheelchair since about a week after the March 15 catastrophe.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
A high school track and field athlete was left paralyzed after a freak accident. (Fox News)
Rock Falls High School head track coach Eric Bontz shared the horrific details in an interview with KWQC-TV.
“He was warming up in the triple jump, just doing run throughs, and as he was going through the sand, he tripped either over his own feet or over the sand, and kind of stumbled, and was kind of running as he was stumbling, and just fell head first into the wall,” Bontz said.
Wescott went through 12 hours of surgery immediately after the accident, according to the Daily Gazette. He had two cages inserted to stabilize his neck with a vertebra was replaced with a titanium plate.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER JUMPS INTO ACTION TO SAVE OPPONENT’S LIFE AFTER HARROWING ON-COURT COLLAPSE
“You go from being a normal, happy family with, everybody talking about future plans and graduation, prom — he just got accepted to study to be a vet tech after high school — and then seeing him in a wheelchair, not able to do a lot of the things that he used to do,” Westcott’s aunt, Kim Wescott Kilday, told the station. “It really hurts.”
A general look at the triple jump. (IMAGN)
Wescott’s family and coach have praised his resiliency.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A GoFundMe has raised more than $22,000 to help with medical expenses.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.
Subscribed
You’ve successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2025 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
Illinois HS athlete suffers horrific injury while warming up for triple jump – Fox News
Related articles
