“It was [my] first play of high school [football] I ever and it was on a kick return. I just got tackled and I just dislocated [my pinky finger],” said Hollister freshman Carter Whitman. “I went off to the sideline and I was like, I think it’s out of place. And then my step dad just popped it back in and he taped it up. And then I just kept playing.”
Carter may be described as short and mighty, showing pure resilience this past fall. But his might exceeds beyond the gridiron.
18 months ago, Carter and his brother, Bryson Whitman, were four wheeling down a hill like the two had many times before.
“We always use the front brakes and we went down this hill and I just squeeze them a little bit too hard and we went head over heels,” Bryson, a Hollister junior, said.
Bryson was pinned under the ATV, meanwhile Carter managed to get out from underneath.
“I had to crawl out but I couldn’t really move my legs,” Carter said. “Like, couldn’t feel my left leg and I could barely move my right toes.”
The boys were stuck at the bottom of the hill as they waited for help.
“I told [Carter] I was like I might not make it, you know,” Bryson said. “I was just taking breath by breath. He crawled over and grabbed my hand. Like, ‘well, if you die, I die’. And he’s like, ‘I’m not going anywhere without you. And you got it.'”
Bryson had 10 broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a lacerated liver. He spent three days in the hospital.
“Bryson couldn’t breath, like he was really struggling to breathe, so I thought he was actually in more worse shape than Carter,” said Bryson and Carter’s dad, Eric Whitman.
Little did they know that Carter broke his back. He was transported by a helicopter from Springfield to St. Louis. The recovery took months.
“You know, he has his moments of where he feels like he’s not doing enough, but the great thing about him is then he turns around and justice works his butt off,” said Bryson and Carter’s mom, Brooke Johnson.
He had to learn to walk before he could run.
“I’ve had to like do a ton of workouts on my left leg and stuff. I kind of like run with a waddle now,” Carter said.
With one foot in front of the other, Carter is gaining strength and following in the same path as his brother. This season, it’s on the wrestling mat.
“He just watches [Bryson’s matches} and wants to be just like his brother and he will not let anything get in his way,” Johnson said.
But it’s also the big brother who now looks up to his younger brother.
“Watching him break his back and go through all the miracles that he did. And now he’s okay, you know, and just fighting that injury, I just know that I can push through everything that I go through,” Bryson said.
Carter has yet to meet his match, not even a broken back is stopping the freshman Tiger from succeeding on the mat.
“I just remind myself of where I’ve come and like what I’ve been through and like nobody can beat me,” Carter said.
