TATUM, Texas — It's been six months since Tatum High School junior D.J. Horton fractured his neck in a horrific collision during a football scrimmage.
But that didn't stop Horton as he made his comeback on Monday placing second in his heat in the 400m dash and fourth overall at a track meet in Marshall.
"This kid has never given up," his mother, Sam, said. "Back on the track as soon as Dr. Muns allowed him to be."
Horton says he could have come in first place, had he not been five months behind on his training.
It's hard to believe in August 2018, Horton was lying in a hospital bed recovering from surgery. He received five permanent screws in his neck and was in a brace for three months following the procedure.
On Friday, August 17, 2018, Tatum played a scrimmage against Rusk prior to the start of the regular season.
Tatum head coach Darren Hylander says Horton was making an otherwise unremarkable tackle when the devastating injury occurred.
"Toward the end of the scrimmage there was a tackle being made," said Coach Hylander. "He [Horton] was coming up to make the tackle and when he made the hit, he just hit it just right and he went down. We saw him go down and so our trainer sprinted across the field to get to him as fast as he could."
While on the field, the medical staff worked to stabilize Horton, as he was awake and alert.
"I saw him go down on the field and he didn't get back up," Horton's mother, Sam, said. "That's the hard part. That's when mama wants to go out there and grab your baby and make sure they're okay."
"They went through the protocol," Coach Hylander recalled. "They called for the ambulance, made sure they stayed on the phone with them, made sure they had everyone in place where they needed them to take care of him first, number one and they made sure they kept his head still. They did everything they needed to do to keep him where he needed to be."
Once the ambulance arrived, Horton was rushed to a nearby hospital so doctors could assess his injuries. The diagnosis was something no mother wants to hear.
"We got him to the hospital and they did CT scans and that's when we found out that he had actually broken his neck in two places," Horton's mother remembered. "He was still able to move most of his extremities, which was to me which to me is a blessing."
After his CT scan, Horton was flown to a Tyler hospital for surgery and further treatment.
Now, he's back in the game, hoping to make his dreams come true on the track. And with his determination, never give up attitude and obvious talent, there's no doubt we'll being seeing a lot more of Horton in the near future.
