No high school student-athlete has experienced the highs and lows of teenage life this year more than Trevor Smith.
On Feb. 26, Smith, a junior at Tracy Area High School, broke his brother Spencer’s seemingly unbreakable single-game scoring record of 48 points by collecting an unheard of 51 against Wabasso.
Exactly one week later, his life changed dramatically when the car he was driving home to Balaton was broadsided and pushed off the highway by a semi at Garvin Corner. Smith, a well-known athlete throughout the area, was left with multiple skull and rib fractures.
And just a few days after being airlifted to Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD, Smith was driven back to the comfort of home in Balaton.
“My head sometimes hurts, and my shoulder from my rib (fractures) … some sore muscles, but other than that it’s pretty good,” Trevor said Friday.
“We just take it day-by-day,” his mother, Debbie, said.
Trevor suffered a minor setback late last week when it became noticeable something was wrong with the right side of has face. The concern was enough to warrant a return trip to Sanford, where more tests and scans were conducted on his brain Saturday. His facial paralysis is Bell’s Palsy caused by agitated nerves; doctors are hopeful that will go away in a few weeks. His father, Bryan, said Tuesday that Trevor is able to go for walks, and they hope to have him attend school in some capacity soon.
See more in this week’s paper!