MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Chase Kimble was all smiles on Saturday.
Standing on the 50-yard line at Herb Parker Stadium was nothing new to the former Minot State wide receiver, but this day was different. He’d never been so thankful to stand on a football field in his life. Just 11 months ago, he didn’t know if he was ever going to stand again after suffering a spinal cord injury.
“You can’t take anything for granted,” Kimble said. “Every day I can get up and move around is a blessing.”
Former Minot State football player Chase Kimble (88) raises his hand to show appreciation to the crowd while walking to midfield with MSU football coach Tyler Hughes, left, on Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium in Minot.
In a pre-game ceremony before Minot State’s football game against Minnesota Duluth, Kimble was introduced over the stadium’s speakers while he walked to midfield with the assistance of a cane. The Minot community welcomed Kimble with a standing ovation before he reached his destination, which prompted the Houston native to stop and raise his hand in appreciation. As he looked around the field, he not only witnessed the tribute from MSU’s fans, but observed his former teammates and Minnesota Duluth players standing and applauding as well.
“That was something that I’ve been looking forward to all week,” said MSU linebacker and Kimble’s former teammate Trevin Swensen. “I love Chase because of the guy he is, and the type of inspiration he brings to the team is incredible for what he had to go through. It inspires me to be a better person, seeing him have such a good attitude about it. Having him walk out there and do that wasn’t only big for him, but it was big for the city of Minot.”
Not too long ago, this moment seemed improbable for Kimble, who remembers lying motionless on Nov. 14, 2015, at James S. Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minn., all too well.
In what he described as an “ordinary football play,” Kimble attempted to create a lane for his running back downfield, but stumbled when a cornerback shed his block. Moments later, another Minnesota Duluth defender came from Kimble’s other side and hit him while trying to make a tackle.
“From where he was coming I was prepared to get hit, but I got hit in a bad way,” said Kimble, a junior at the time of his injury. “I was immediately paralyzed and couldn’t feel a thing. At that point I was laying on the field on my back, just hoping that I didn’t look as bad as I felt. I was really hoping people around me weren’t already thinking the worst.”
Even though Kimble admitted he was “terrified” internally, he refused to let his coaches and teammates share the same fear. MSU coach Tyler Hughes immediately rushed to check on his player after seeing Kimble was unable to move after the hit. Before Hughes’ eyes was a player going through a life-changing moment, yet wearing the same smile that made him a popular guy in the locker room with his teammates, the Minot Daily News reported (https://bit.ly/2ehqbT9 ).
“I just remember right from the beginning when they took him to the hospital, Chase was really positive,” Hughes said. “He kept saying, ’I’m going to be fine, coach.’ That helped me because I was really nervous for him. His confidence and attitude about the whole thing made it solid for everybody. He never lost faith that he was going to walk again and he was going to be healthy again.”
When he arrived at the hospital, Kimble wasn’t sure what he was going to hear from his doctors. He had a sharp pain in his neck and couldn’t move his body, which led medical personnel to assume he had a spinal cord injury - with worst case scenario being a broken back or a broken neck.
“You’re trying to find ways to cope with it initially and tell yourself things are going to be OK,” Kimble said. “Because there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair. But inside, I was freaking out. I knew I had to stay positive just for the fact I just didn’t know anything for sure yet.”
After a computerized tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging, it was revealed Kimble had bruised his spinal cord pretty badly, but nothing was broken.
Once the swelling came down, Kimble used a wheelchair to maneuver around for the next three months. He wasn’t without visitors, though. His mother, Terri, and the rest of his family visited as often as they could from Houston. But Kimble also welcomed guests whom he had never met before - members of the Duluth football program and community.
“He’s a pretty special kid,” UMD coach Curt Wiese said. “I’ll never forget the first day I met him. I walked into the hospital and he’s laying there and not moving any of his limbs, yet he has a big smile on his face. He just told me, ’Thanks for coming.’ I have a lot of respect for him and it was great to see him up and moving (Saturday).”
Kimble said he’ll always be appreciative of how the Duluth community treated him while he was in the hospital.
“So many guys came in and they didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. They came and showed support,” Kimble said. “It just shows how big the football community is and how understanding guys are. Even though we want to beat each other at the end of the day, we never want to see anything bad happen to each other. I have tons of love for Duluth.”
A few months later, Kimble was transferred to a rehab facility in Houston, where he eventually went from relying on a wheelchair to using a cane to assist him while walking. He returned to Minot for the first time after the injury in May to walk across the stage at graduation.
“I knew there was nothing but love there when I came back and people that want to see you succeed,” Kimble said. “Just being able to go through that milestone with those people, there’s nothing better.”
To this day, Kimble continues to use the cane to get around, but relies on it less and less each day.
“On the lower end of the spectrum long term, my ability to walk will get a little bit better than this but that’s it,” Kimble said. “On the higher end, my walking will improve dramatically and I’ll be able to start jogging eventually.”
He has a few classes to complete before finishing his education in December, but Kimble just wants to get back to living as normal a life as possible.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, https://www.minotdailynews.com
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