Paralyzed Laurel football player walks at his graduation ceremony
Before they started announcing the graduates and handing out the diplomas, the rules were read to the many people who crowded into the bleachers at Laurel High School’s graduation ceremony Friday night: No noise when a name is announced. Hold applause to the end.
For 32 graduates, the rules were followed. Silence. Then … “Hayden T. Hamilton.” The heck with rules. The entire crowd rose to its feet for a standing ovation — all because Hayden stood.
And walked.
Talk about a comeback story. Inside this same Laurel High stadium three years earlier, Hayden was carted off the field on a stretcher, with no feeling from his mouth down after trying to make a tackle in the first home game of his sophomore season. He was a starting linebacker/defensive end but suffered a serious spinal injury and was paralyzed from the neck down. He was the first football player in the WPIAL to paralyzed since the 1960s.
But there were a lot of feelings inside Laurel’s stadium Friday. Some wiped their eyes, watching Hayden move toward his diploma, with his therapist, Ryan Lacey, by his side.
Defying odds, defying what doctors told him, going through operations and intense rehabilitation that continues today, Hayden reached a goal Friday night. With the aid of leg braces and a walker with two wheels, Hayden rose to his feet from his wheelchair and slowly moved one foot after the other. It took about two minutes for him to go about 10 yards.
And about that standing ovation?
“That felt better than any touchdown I ever scored,” Hayden said with a laugh.
Hayden is a former high school football player. So in a way, what he did Friday was one of the best feel-good stories of the high school sports year. They were small steps that Hayden took, but they were giant leaps for those in the Laurel School District, which is near New Castle.
“He’s an inspiration,” said Len Rich, superintendent of Laurel schools. “The positive attitude he has had through all this is really something.”
In short, many were shocked at the ceremony. Hayden showed something that his former football teammates and friends had never seen. His girlfriend had never seen. They had never seen him walk in person. Hayden doesn’t use Twitter. He’s a soft-spoken, nonchalant 18-year-old who never wanted to post videos on social media of himself taking steps. He needs to use the walker and leg braces to walk slowly, but he has become so good at holding himself up that he has become a pretty good dart player — while standing.
His parents, Chad and Melissa, were two of the few who have ever witnessed him walking. But at therapy, Hayden sometimes walks 300 feet.
“We had no idea. I was shocked,” said Kobe DeRosa, one of Hayden’s good friends and a Laurel football player. “He deserved that standing ovation 100 percent.”
Video on Twitter of Hayden’s walk was getting plenty of attention Friday. Former Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier, who retired after a serious spinal cord injury, tweeted at Hayden: “Hayden this is amazing man I’m so proud of you.”
Hayden said, “I think it’s cool that I did this on the field where it all happened. I just wanted to be able to walk off that field again because I never got to do it that night [of the injury]. I’d say that was the main goal, to walk off that field once more.”
Mom and Dad held back tears when Hayden walked to get his diploma.
“You just feel so proud,” Melissa Hamilton said.
Hayden still vividly remembers the play from the Aug. 31, 2018, game when he was injured. He dove to make a tackle against Rochester, but the running back with the ball tried to hurdle him and his knee hit Hayden in the head.
“He’s come a very long way, but he probably has more drive than almost anyone I’ve ever met, especially given his situation,” said Lacey, who works with Hayden at Action Physical Therapy in Hubbard, Ohio. “There’s obvious limitations with a spinal cord injury, but he’s already broken past limitations he had initially.
He was told he wouldn’t be able to do certain things that he’s doing now. It’s a great story.”
In the fall, Hayden was selected homecoming king. Laurel doesn’t give out a “most likely to succeed” award to the senior class. But Hayden already has succeeded greatly, even if he doesn’t think his progress is all that big of a deal.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve already succeeded,” Hayden said. “If I say that, I feel like I’ll stop working. … I’m just focusing on my recovery and do the best I can until I choose what to do next.”
Next is probably taking some classes at Butler County Community College. Hayden took mostly online classes the past two years at Laurel, but would sometimes attend classes in person. Hayden eventually wants to go to a four-year college.
Hayden has dreams, but one of them isn’t the day when he can walk without a walker.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Hayden said. “I was crazy. When I got hurt, I thought I’d play the next week. But I mean, when I was hurt I was paralyzed from the neck down, and I couldn’t even feed myself. I couldn’t do anything. I’m not worried about walking independently without a walker. I just want to make myself better every day.”
Heck, the steps he already has taken are worth a standing ovation.