LYONS — Brysen Daughton knew he was cranky but didn’t understand why.
It was October 2008. Daughton and his Lyons High School teammates had just won 14-13 on the road against Denver Lutheran to virtually secure the Class 1A Metro North League football championship. And, sure, he had taken a big hit to his left side, but it was nothing the bull rider and New Year’s Day baby couldn’t handle. Or so he thought.
After an uncomfortable bus ride, a halfhearted attempt at eating some fast food, a startling trip to the bathroom and a frantic run to a hospital’s emergency room, Daughton discovered his mounting source of pain.
He was bleeding internally because of a lacerated kidney, an injury more common among victims of automobile accidents. “I can’t believe I didn’t die on the field,” the recently graduated senior said. “It was pretty scary how I went from playing on a 70-degree day to the intensive-care unit.”
Said his mother, Ginger Raper: “How bizarre is that?”
Daughton received The Denver Post’s 2011 Dick Connor A.C.E. (Adversity Conquered through Excellence) Award for overcoming his serious injury with patience, determination and plenty of support.
The play against Denver Lutheran was simple enough. The Lions were trying to block a field-goal attempt. Daughton, then a sophomore lineman, was engaged. Senior teammate Derek Engelhorn, on the rush, was tripped and stumbled into Daughton, spearing him just above the waist. Daughton went down in a heap.
“I felt bad, but it just happened and I couldn’t have done anything else,” Engelhorn said. “It was bad luck, nothing else but bad luck.”
Said Daughton: “He knew he gave me at least a stinger. He didn’t know he hit me that hard.”
Daughton sat out five plays and re-entered the game. Daughton and his coaching staff thought he might have a bruised or cracked rib.
“We had no way of knowing,” Lyons coach John Nichols said.
Daughton had ridden a 1,500-pound bull for eight seconds and placed first in a rodeo. He also became a 171-pound wrestler. He was a tough competitor, a linebacker who would rub dirt on an injury and return to action.
But this day, his pain worsened.
Daughton, who now dates Engelhorn’s sister, Heidi, somehow made it to the final whistle. As for Engelhorn, he suffered a concussion and dislocated his clavicle, but not on the play that injured Daughton. And, according to Raper, Daughton “offered Derek ibuprofen at the end of the game for his pain. I never realized when there’s a critical injury that they can still be coherent.”
Daughton passed on a Burger King meal and endured the bus ride to the Lyons parking lot, where Raper, who had unusually missed the game, was waiting.
“I was in the parking lot and I remember hearing the flagpole banging and just thinking about him,” she said. “So we got all the way home, he took off his shoes and he headed to the shower.”
Said Daughton: “I never reached the shower.”
Instead, Raper said, “he started yelling and ran to his room. I was on the phone talking to people and said, ‘I have to take him to the hospital!’ There was blood everywhere in the bathroom, that dark blood from internally. It looked more like grape juice or Coca-Cola. When we got to (Longmont United Hospital), he only got worse.”
After a series of examinations and a CT scan, Daughton remained in dangerous condition.
“The first words out of the doctors’ mouths: ‘His life is over as you know it,’ ” Raper said.
Most patients in Colorado with Daughton’s injury are taken to Denver for treatment, but Daughton couldn’t be moved. He spent 13 days at the Longmont hospital, three in intensive care. He was given many units of plasma and blood. His family and friends were certain he would lose the kidney, but it was saved by surgery.
Engelhorn was among Daughton’s many frequent visitors and said “it wasn’t a good feeling knowing you put somebody in the hospital, especially from your own team.”
Daughton remembers little of it because of the drugs, other than “the worst pain of my life . . . and I was going to get a shower, but never did. When I woke up, there was still mud on me. So much for sponge baths.”
Daughton made it back to his team by the playoffs and was honored before and after Lyons played Paonia. In a wheelchair, he received a game ball that was signed by each Lion. He returned to the Lions by the end of the wrestling season but suffered a setback when blood clots led to having his appendix removed. He then started toward his next hurdle — resuming football in summer camp. With his injured kidney at an estimated 90 percent, he remained apprehensive.
“I’m always at risk if I get hit back there,” said Daughton, who wore a flak jacket and was moved from the line to H-back on offense as a blocker and ball carrier. “I love football but can’t stand on the sidelines or in the stands. One of my coaches told me to stop being so afraid, just basically gave me a kick in the rear.”
Lyons assistant Bill Blick “was on pins and needles” when Daughton was hospitalized. “I had never heard of such an injury,” Blick said, “and I’ve been coaching since 1974. . . . But he’s tough as nails and fun to be around. He’s got such a positive personality. And he got through it.”
Daughton continued as a two-way starter, helping Lyons go 17-5 the last two football seasons. He was the Lions’ best linebacker — and graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average, despite missing the end of his first semester in 2008. And he had a 31-9 record as a senior wrestler.
Daughton, who will attend Wyoming, said he’s “grateful for a lot more now. I try to believe that, and don’t take every day for granted.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
An open letter from Brysen Daughton
In big games, big plays always seem to determine the outcome. On Oct. 18, 2008, a big play for the Lyons Lions football team was Dalton Arnold blocking the Denver Lutheran Lights’ attempt at a game- winning field goal. Lyons won the North Metro League championship.
There were many game- changing plays that day, but one play didn’t stand out until after the game — and it turned out to be a focal point of my life. Early in the first quarter, when Denver Lutheran attempted its first field goal, Derek Engelhorn blew through the line, lost his footing and shot headfirst into my back as we tried to make a block for Lyons. We were unsuccessful, but what occurred was catastrophic. At the time, I believed my injury was simply a few cracked ribs. I tried to shrug it off. I played the rest of the game in agony. I took a lot of ibuprofen at halftime and during the bus ride home.
Five hours after that hit, I was home when I began to pass blood. After being rushed to a hospital’s emergency room, I discovered that I had lacerated my left kidney.
The 13 days I was hospitalized were blurry because of the vast amount of drugs, blood and CT scans and because of my surgery — a pro- cedure to insert a stent that drained blood from my abdomen. But my hospital stay was full of more love than pain. I had a constant flow of friends and family members in my hospital room, and I heard about the various fundraising efforts in honor of me.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to return to football my sophomore year.
It took until December to return to school. But by late January, I was able to wrestle again.
By the summer, I was ready to suit up again for football. I had my fears and butterflies about being hit again. After our team’s first practice, I hit a minor speed bump — I needed my appendix removed. That took me out of action for only a few days. By the start of camp, I was ready to go again, but I couldn’t play with intensity. It seemed like when a play started, cement would form on my limbs and I couldn’t run or hit like I usually did.
By our first scrimmage, I had doubts about continuing my football career. I feared letting down the team and being left as a starter out of pity for my “sacrifice.”
During our first home game, I missed several tackles and misread plays. That’s when my defensive coach gave me the strength to play like I usually played.
At the end of the game, a newspaper reporter asked to interview me. I had made 12 tackles and recovered two fumbles.
Football was easy from there. I finished that season with 117 tackles — the top total on my team — and was named an all-league linebacker. My senior year was a similar story. Fewer tackles, but the same accolades. Both years in wrestling went very well — except that during my junior year, I was injured the week before regionals, had difficulty competing and fell one place short of state. My senior year, I had a 31-9 record and was able to qualify for the state tournament, where I went 1-2.
Now I plan to attend the University of Wyoming, where I want to major in pre-medicine. I hope to become a doctor.
About Daughton
Born Jan. 1, 1993.
Competed in football and wrestling at Lyons. Earned all-Metro North League honors in football and qualified for the state wrestling tournament.
Also an accomplished bull rider.
Had a 4.0 grade-point average.
Plans to attend the University of Wyoming, where he will consider pre-med as a major and hopes to be a walk-on member of the Cowboys’ football team.
The Dick Connor A.C.E. Award
Former Denver Post sportswriter Dick Connor died in 1992 after an illustrious career. A longtime columnist, one of the few who hadn’t missed a Super Bowl, Connor took a personal interest in Colorado high school sports. Accordingly, The Denver Post offers the Dick Connor A.C.E. (Adversity Conquered through Excellence) Award, which is presented annually to a high school senior who has overcome a handicap, hardship or tragedy to excel in sports. The winner must have exhibited courage, resolve, leadership and citizenship. This year’s winner, Brysen Daughton of Lyons, was honored Thursday at a lunch with Denver Post personnel, the Daughton family, school personnel and Connor’s widow, Mary Kay Connor-Spieler. Daughton received a $2,000 scholarship from The Post and a copy of Connor’s book of columns.
Year. Winner, School.
1993. Ashley Tindle, Heritage.
1994. Amy Feinsinger, Glenwood Springs.
1995. Kelley C. Roswell, Central (G.J.).
1996. Jason Salazar, East.
1997. Allie Gausman, Fort Collins.
1998. Kelly Rheem, Arapahoe.
1999. Girls soccer team, Columbine.
2000. Jon Severy, Aspen.
2001. Ian Grant, Denver Christian.
2002. Philip Devlin, Idalia.
2003. Jeff Mielnicki, Cherry Creek.
2004. Daniel Belger, Bear Creek.
2005. Daniel Steefel, Littleton.
2006. Patty Turgeon, Mullen.
2007. Jordan Kessler, Broomfield.
2008. Jonny Stevens, Battle Mountain.
2009. Jimmy Schweitzer, Loveland.
2010. Tanner Nemkov, Heritage.
2011. Brysen Daughton, Lyons.
