Player paralyzed in sledding accident still supports team

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - Austin McNew has helped Northeastern's football team win a championship almost every year since elementary school.

The class of 2017 went undefeated in eighth grade and won the school's first three Tri-Eastern Conference championships from 2013-2015.

Following an all-conference season as a linebacker last fall, McNew spent the early part of the offseason preparing to bring yet another championship to Fountain City his senior year.

The Knights are in a pretty good position to do so, but his role isn't quite the one he had hoped for.

Austin's life changed in an instant when he was paralyzed during a sledding accident on Jan. 12.

But after so many years on the field, the senior now is helping the Knights pursue a fourth straight TEC championship in another way.

Before every home game, Austin leads the charge onto the field from his motorized wheelchair. The Knights sprint onto the field behind him, breaking out to the words "McNewStrong."

"It's an honor, because they still look at me as I'm part of the team," Austin said recently. "They break on 'McNewStrong' and on 'State' all the time. The support they've given me is amazing, because I can't lie, it's hard to watch it. This is my senior year, this is supposed to be the best year I had, so to be on the sideline and not be able to play, it's hard to do, but I want to be out here to support these guys, because I played with these guys since third grade."

McNew's senior class won championships in fourth, fifth and sixth grades, then went undefeated in eighth grade and allowed only two touchdowns.

Then as freshmen, a few members played key roles as the Knights won the program's first TEC championship ever, sharing it with Winchester.

They've won two more since and are well on their way to becoming just the second team to ever win four straight TEC titles in football.

And Austin still has a role on the team.

"He's always there as motivation, comes to practice every day. We know he'd do anything he could to be out there, so we just look to get him every single win every single day, go hard every day in the weight room just for him," said senior quarterback Jacob Auger, who was with Austin when he had his accident.

"That's my best friend for 10 years, probably. I hated seeing him go down, probably one of the roughest parts of my life."

Austin, Auger, Seth Killen and Josh Tudor have gone sledding for a few winters now. On Jan. 12, they had a snow day, and they took advantage of it.

"I remember, I woke up, it was a snow day so my mom told me . so I go back to bed," Austin said. "I wake up about 11 o' clock, the first thing I do, I had some texts from Jacob, Josh and Seth in a group text, and the first thing I do, I texted and said, 'Are we going to sled today?' because we always do, and they're all like, 'Yeah, let's do it.'"

According to his father, Michael McNew, Austin and his friends were in an old truck liner being pulled by an ATV when they went down a hill, and Austin was paralyzed when a few of his friends fell on top of him.

"When he first got hurt, it was an unreal experience," Tudor said. "We were all sitting there, he couldn't move, it's like, we said, 'Ah, it's a stinger, you're going to be fine, shake it off.' Then at the hospital, weeks later, weeks later he couldn't move at all."

It has been a slow process, but Austin has seen signs of improvement.

The biggest breakthrough happened in June, when he was first able to move his leg and hands.

"I was about to go to the movies, and I was waiting to take a shower," he recalled. "I was sitting there and I felt my finger twitch. It was my left thumb, I was like, 'There's no way. That didn't really just happen.' And then I tried to move it and it moved, so I'm like, 'Mom, come here, I just moved my left thumb,' so then she comes there and I move my left thumb and I realized I could move my index finger and then my middle finger, so I'm just excited about that, and when I was sitting there, I felt like I had a little control of my leg, but I didn't really know.

"So then a little bit later, I'm sitting there, my mom goes, 'Your right thumb just twitched.' I'm like, 'No it didn't. I would've felt it,' and then I tried to move my right thumb and all of a sudden it moved and then my right index finger, and that's awesome.

"So after my shower, I'm laying there, I feel like I can move my left leg, all of a sudden my left leg moves, then I realize I can move my big toe on my left foot, then my big toe on my right foot. Really, in one day, I notice all that movement, and it was in a matter of, I don't know, 30 minutes."

Austin now can defy gravity with his left leg, and he can raise his left arm up to his mouth. He has a bit of movement with his fingers but not enough to do much.

During school, he has a scribe that he whispers to when he wants to take notes, and using his head, his wheelchair can control his phone.

But the small movement is a sign that the pathways of his nervous system are open, meaning there is hope still for a full recovery.

"Once he started moving, there were tears of joy," Michael McNew said. "You're happy, the pathways are open. That's a big, big deal. We knew he could feel, but the feeling and the movement is two different pathways. Once he starts moving, you know that pathway is open."

The senior year has been tough on Michael as well.

He came up with Austin's senior class as a coach since third grade. During Austin's eighth-grade year, Michael started studying film because he wanted to be a part of the high school program.

He also had high hopes for his son's senior year.

"It's been a little hard knowing that he wants to be out there," Michael McNew said. "But knowing he's on the sidelines supporting all his buddies makes it even bigger because he's showing the love for them and they're showing it back."

Northeastern wears a sticker with Austin's No. 55 on every helmet.

"I'll be honest, it was hard at first," Northeastern head coach Mike Roeder said. "I was not looking forward to (the season), because I thought it would be too much for me emotionally to see Austin in that situation after having coached him for three years, but it has turned out to be a great learning experience for the kids. I think it's taught him a lot about how not to take anything for granted in life and make the most of it."

Northeastern hasn't been the only team showing support.

Lincoln coach Phil Renforth wore a T-shirt that read "#McNewStrong" during the Golden Eagles' preseason scrimmage, played against Northeastern.

"We bought them last year, my intent was to wear them at the scrimmage, just to show support for Austin and his family and the Northeastern community and their program," Renforth said. "Austin was a special athlete, the kid was good. It's unfortunate what's happened. We are all praying for the best outcome. I know he's made some progress, but it's a long-term issue that he's going to have to deal with. We just wanted to make sure he knew we're with their family and their football program, even though they're going through some difficult times with that."

After one of Winchester's more taxing and heartbreaking losses of the year, two of the Falcons' top players, quarterback Austin Lawrence and running back Elias Gates, talked to McNew and wished him the best. Northeastern had just beaten the Falcons 14-7 in a matchup between two of the conference's best programs from each of the past four years.

"We hate to see anyone in any situation that is as unfortunate as that," Winchester coach Mike Jones said. "I love the way he fights, I love how positive he was, and it's so good to see how everyone has pulled together to support, not just Austin, but the whole McNew family. It's a testament to the quality of people that we have in the Tri-Eastern Conference, but more importantly, it just shows you that he's a high-quality, superhigh-quality kid. There's no question about his toughness, he's going to fight like crazy. I heard that out of his mouth."

Right after the injury happened, Hagerstown's team signed a football and gave it to Austin during a basketball game.

"When that happened last year, it was awful for the guys on our team," Hagerstown coach Scott Snodgrass said. "We don't live far enough from each other where they don't all know each other. That takes guts to see things like that as a coach. I'd really struggle if something like that happened with one of our boys. Over 20 years you form some really great bonds with kids."

And of course, Austin made the national news when Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown called him via FaceTime. Last month, Brown sent Austin and his family six tickets to their game against the Cincinnati Bengals. It just so happened that the game fell on the day before Austin's 18th birthday.

"I was pretty excited about it, just because it fell a day before my birthday, so I don't think there's a better present than that," Austin said.

He continues to fight, doing therapy twice a week.

Austin is on pace to graduate in December, so he hopes to increase his therapy after that.

He has set a goal to walk at graduation in May, and he has goals to study either at Earlham College or Indiana University East.

For now, he continues to play a role on the football team and helps the Knights as best as he can.

"We're always 'McNew Strong,'" senior Harrison Rice said. "We look at him, see determination. We just have to be thankful that we're out here, that God gave us the ability to play football. We just have to keep on striving for him and we're going to win for him. Always 'McNew Strong.'"

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Source: (Richmond) Palladium-Item, http://pinews.co/2dp9DWf

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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com