–Unsung Hero - “Just give me a chance, Coach”
11 October 2007By Terry Brown
ASHEVILLE - October 10, 2007 - Indomitable - it’s a word we often hear being used to describe certain, resilient types in our culture. The word means tough, resolute, determined, unconquerable, and invincible. It’s also the word that best describes sixteen year-old Asheville High School senior, Ryan Nuckolls, who is also the goalie on the Cougar’s field hockey team. But how and why could such a weighty word be considered in relationship to a mere sixteen year-old girl?
It was Thanksgiving Day in November 2005. Ryan and members of her extended family had just finished Thanksgiving dinner. Someone thought it would be a good idea to spend the rest of the afternoon playing a fun board game called Cranium. Unfortunately, the Nuckolls didn’t own such a game and so Ryan, her little brother Corey, and her cousin Anna jumped into the car and headed off to the local Walmart in Hendersonville to purchase one. On their way back, a car coming in the opposite direction rounded a curve, crossed the center line, and then hit them head on.
The impact of the crash was so severe and the damage was so great that it would take emergency personnel two hours to extract Anna, the driver, from the vehicle. However, despite initially being the most seriously hurt, eventually she would fully recover.
Apart from being seriously traumatized, Corey managed to walk away from the scene mostly unscathed. But Ryan, who was sitting in the backseat, would be the one to receive the most significant, long term injuries from the extremely violent crash.
As soon as the shock from the impact wore off, Ryan immediately realized that she was no longer able to see. Later she would find out that she had been hit in the face by some pieces of glass and plastic that had broken off from the vehicle’s windshield and dashboard area before rocketing through the air.
It was during those initial moments that we first get a glimpse of the sort of character this then fourteen year-old girl possessed. Despite not being able to see anything, her deepest concern was to comfort her cousin who was still conscious, trapped, and becoming increasingly hysterical. Ryan kept reassuring her that she and Corey were fine, that help was on the way, and that she had every reason to stay calm.
Once the EMT’s arrived, Ryan would be helped from the car and placed into an ambulance where she recalls sitting and spitting out pieces of glass that she originally thought were her teeth. From there she was taken to Mission Memorial Hospital where her injuries were first determined and then treated.
X-rays showed that the most significant damage came from a piece of plastic that had entered the right side of Ryan’s face shattering her nose and cheekbone and causing extensive damage to the area both within and behind her right eye. Consequently, she would spend the next five hours in the operating room as doctors tried to undo the damage done to Ryan’s face and eye.
Two days later, with Ryan still unable to see, the ophthalmologist who had operated on her would break the news concerning the seriousness of her injuries. The loss of sight in her left eye was merely the result of swelling and would soon return. However, the damage done to her right eye had been so extensive that she would never be able to see out of it again.
With such devastating news, one would expect a fourteen year-old girl to become immediately despondent over the effects this sort of disability would have on her looks and, thus, her social life. Yet such issues were very far down on Ryan’s list of concerns.
Instead, much to the doctor’s surprise, Ryan’s only reaction was to ask a simple question, “Will I still be able to play field hockey next year?”
The doctor was stunned to hear this and then said, “I guess you can - just as long as you wear some type of a mask.” Despite having a swollen face filled with hundreds of stitches, Ryan still managed a painful smile along with the words, “Well, I’m a goalie so I wear a mask all the time!”
Her next thought was to call her coach, Lauren Kaye, to tell her the “great news” concerning the doctor’s diagnosis. Of course, after having heard nothing but horrible news for two days, Coach Kaye was both shocked and thrilled to hear Ryan’s voice on the other side of the phone. Hardly able to contain herself, Ryan quickly blurted out, “The doctor said I can still play next year, coach."
Of course, being rightly concerned about her player’s overall health and welfare, Coach Kaye provided wise counsel, “Well, Ryan, you just need to focus on getting well for now and then later we’ll talk about next season.” Not satisfied with her coach’s response, Ryan pleaded, “Just give me a chance, Coach,” to which Coach Kaye then acceded.
The next few weeks would include several trips to Raleigh to meet with a plastic surgeon who would perform four separate operations on her face. Again, while most girls would likely view such experiences as a horrible, extended nightmare, the word Ryan uses to describe these trips and experiences was, as she put it, “Fascinating!”
What she enjoyed the most was the process she went through to receive her new prosthetic eye. “That guy was incredible! He was like an artist!” Ryan’s description of the man and his work made it seem as though she considered it a unique privilege to have been present for these sessions where her left eye was being studied so as to make a matching right eye.
Despite her new interest in the world of plastic surgery, Ryan’s main concerns were keeping up with her classes as well as getting back with her teammates and friends. That being the case, by the end of Christmas vacation and just weeks after the accident, Ryan was back in school as a fulltime student.
At that point, Ryan had not yet received her prosthesis, and not having found a suitable eye patch, she then opted for wearing various, colorful, band-aid type patches over her eye.
Ryan shared, “Some people liked the one that had a black and white cow pattern. However, the one that won the contest was the one with the big lady bug.”
That’s right, with Ryan’s support and blessing, the student body at Asheville High School actually voted on their favorite Ryan Nuckolls eye patch.
To no one’s surprise, two years later Ryan is fully back in the swing of things. Along with taking a few AP courses, she is working two jobs and, of course, playing goalie for the girl’s field hockey team - and doing so quite successfully. In fact, the Asheville Cougars are now 17-2 and have at least 12 shutouts.
Upon graduation, Ryan will be doing an internship with the plastic surgeon who has treated her over these past two years and who also has one more surgery to perform on her nose. Then she’ll be off to college where she hopes to continue playing goalie for an Ivy League field hockey team.
In describing Ryan, Coach Kaye said, “Ryan is the type of person who can take the worse sort of situation and somehow find a way to make the best of it. Sometimes when I don’t feel like getting out of bed, I think of Ryan and I just get up and get moving.”
When asked what she’s learned from her experiences, Ryan simply stated, “People need to realize that life at times is hard, but that nothing can stop you from achieving your goals.”
That seems to be the lesson that Ryan’s life and her response to adversity has taught everyone who has come to know her. There’s no doubt that her words and actions will continue to be a source of hope, encouragement, and inspiration for a host of others who will come to know her in the years ahead.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
