An inspired GOAL
Less than two years after cheating death, Jake Sarver leads his team to state title
“My perspective in life changed. It’s like, ‘How fragile everybody’s life is.’” Jake Sarver
As he lined up the penalty kick at Gilbert Campo Verde High School, all that entered Jake Sarver’s head was what a great story this would write.
Jake had come minutes from death less than two years ago; he had to learn to walk and eat and talk all over again; he didn’t receive medical clearance until late this season and his coach jumped in fear every time the senior collided with somebody on the field.
So when Jake, a 5-foot-11, 130-pound midfielder, drove the ball past the Blue
Ridge goal keeper and into the net to give the school its first state boys soccer championship as an Arizona Interscholastic Association member, it set off a celebration and brought some to tears.
If the name sounds familiar, yes, he’s the son of Robert Sarver, the Phoenix Suns’ owner, but this is a story about Jake and the journey his family went through in the past 16 months.
Needless to say, Jake’s dad was proud.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” Robert Sarver said of watching the ball nestle into the net.
Jake’s journey that didn’t seem possible in the summer of 2016 put perspective in his father’s life.
“Everything stops,” Robert Sarver said.
Emergency brain surgery
It was mid-July 2016, and Jake, an impulsive, adventurous kid with no fears, went skateboarding on Coronado Island off San Diego during a vacation with his mom and two brothers. Robert was back home in Phoenix at the time.
He has no recall as to what happened next. Only that 10 days later, he awoke from a coma in a San Diego hospital after undergoing emergency brain surgery for subdural hematoma after a horrific spill, falling on his head.
“Even when I woke up, I had a vague, vague recollection of what happened,” Jake said. “I got very lucky. They got to me in two minutes. The closest hospital was 15 minutes away. When I got there, all of the neurosurgeons there were available. They said if I hadn’t had that surgery in another 15 to 30 minutes, I would have died.”
Robert Sarver took the first flight out to San Diego.
With wife Penny, Robert sat with their son, praying he would wake up. In another room, a man from Mexico was visiting his daughter.
“My wife befriended an 80-year-old man,” Sarver said. “It was going on the 10th day, and he asked if he could see Jake.
“He said a little prayer in Spanish. Twenty minutes later, Jake woke up. We couldn’t believe it.”
Long road to recovery
The road back was arduous. After almost another week in the hospital, he was flown to Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, where he spent six weeks.
“I think I’m still trying to recover,” Jake said. “But I feel pretty good. The whole walking, talking, eating, my voice was raspy. I could barely talk. Waking up was just my eyes opening. They would go, ‘Can you move your thumb?’ “Yeah, it took a while.”
Jake spent his junior year at PCDS, starting out with just one class, going from school to Barrow, undergoing rehabilitation. He had to go through speech therapy, cognitive therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy.
“It started out as one class here, then a month later two classes and then another month later three classes,” he said. “The rest of the time it was at Barrow for rehabilitation.”
Suns practices and games became therapeutic for the 17-year-old.
“When I first got out of the hospital, I went to the Suns practice and they all gave me a high five, going, ‘How are you doing?’” Jake said.
Last year, guard Devin Booker would come to the Sarver house, and Jake would rebound for him while shooting baskets.
To finally play this year, he had to wear a helmet. It inspired teammates.
“Just seeing him on the soccer field, it was crazy,” said junior goal keeper Ty Rodin, whose dad Andy, the school’s headmaster, stepped in to coach for the first time. “Whether it was a trip four hours to the Grand Canyon or down the road, he was always with us. Just to see him so dedicated, it was special.”
‘Dreaming about for a year’
The first time back on the field, it was surreal for Jake.
“I remember first getting on the pitch, it was like, ‘Whoa,’” he said. “This is what I was dreaming about for a year.
“When I got the penalty, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, if a newspaper was writing a story, this is what they would want.’‘’
The Hollywood script complete, Jake now enjoys watching his dad’s team play, and is solving tough calculus equations, while moving on to his next sport at Phoenix Country Day — basketball.
“My perspective in life changed,” Jake said. “It’s like, ‘How fragile everybody’s life is.’
“I remember we took a trip at winter break after the injury, I was asked if I was up for it. I said, ‘Yup.’ It was much different. It was more time spent as a family. Less doing stuff, less fun, more togetherness.”