An Illinois high school athlete is recovering from a devastating injury sustained during a track and field meet last month. Dylan Westcott, an 18-year-old senior at Rock Falls High School, broke his neck while warming up for the triple jump event on March 15, as reported [1] by Fox News.
According to Rock Falls High School track coach Eric Bontz, the accident occurred during a routine warm-up session.
“He was warming up in the triple jump, just doing run throughs, and as he was going through the sand, he tripped either over his own feet or over the sand, and kind of stumbled, and was kind of running as he was stumbling, and just fell head first into the wall,” Bontz told KWQC-TV [2].
The impact caused a severe spinal cord injury, leaving Westcott paralyzed from the chest down. Following the incident, Westcott underwent 12 hours of surgery, where two cages were inserted in his neck and a vertebra was replaced with a titanium plate, according to the Daily Gazette.
The community of 18-year-old Dylan Wescott is now rallying to support him and his family through an unthinkable chapter after he was left paralyzed. https://t.co/4tPHcieb3p [3]
— WNDU (@16NewsNow) April 14, 2025 [4]
Since the accident, Westcott has been undergoing rehabilitation at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. His recovery has included learning to sit upright in a wheelchair, which he achieved roughly a week after the injury.
His family says the sudden change has been emotionally overwhelming.
“You go from being a normal, happy family with, everybody talking about future plans and graduation, prom — he just got accepted to study to be a vet tech after high school — and then seeing him in a wheelchair, not able to do a lot of the things that he used to do,” said Kim Westcott Kilday, Dylan’s aunt. “It really hurts.”
Despite the severity of the injury, Westcott’s coach and family have expressed admiration for his resilience and determination.
A GoFundMe campaign established to help with medical expenses has raised over $22,000 to date. Support continues to pour in from the local community and surrounding areas, reflecting the impact Westcott has had on his teammates and peers.
Westcott’s path to recovery is expected to be long, but his support system remains committed to helping him move forward.