EDEN, N.C. (WGHP) — For the first time, a Morehead High School football player who lost his arm last week in an ATV accident is speaking out.
Trooper Wright, 16, didn’t miss a beat more than a week after a life-changing accident when he returned to the MHS football field.
“It’s been rough for sure. A lot of dreams and goals been questioned,” Wright said.
Last Monday after practicing with his team to get prepared for a playoff game, Wright said he was riding an ATV with a friend near his home in Eden when the unthinkable happened.
“Just lost control of it. It flipped, and it was a miracle that it was just my arm because the ATV rolled on top of me,” Wright said. “It took a while for EMS to get there. Felt like forever. I saw my arm, and I thought I was going to bleed out in the field. Once they got there, they told me the helicopter was coming.”
Wright was flown to the hospital. Due to the extent of his injuries, doctors had to amputate his left arm.
“Obviously, it really sucks to lose my arm, but I know that God has a purpose for this, and I know I’m going to be able to impact a lot of lives through this,” Wright said. “We’re still trying to get back to the daily things at the house like putting clothes on and everything.”
His family and Head Coach Bobby Martin are helping him get through this. Wright says his faith gave him the strength to persevere.
“My pastor had come to me the day before my surgery, and he said, ‘Jesus is in the boat with you.’ And that night I had a dream that Jesus was in the boat with me and walked on the water with me,” Wright said.
Though he couldn’t participate in MHS’s playoff football game against Shelby High School, the starting running back says he’s working towards making a return to Friday night games in the future.
“I think I can be back on the field with my guys again,” Wright said.
He says he’ll meet with doctors and decide on getting a prosthetic in December.
