By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
On a cold Wednesday afternoon, Aidan DeFazio moved through his daily routine. After a day full of classes and school work, the junior swapped his backpack for basketball shorts and a jersey, meeting his team in the gym to prepare for their upcoming game against Cassadaga Valley.
However, while it may just appear as another tedious day of the basketball season, DeFazio saw it in a much different light. After being sidelined with a broken back for the past two months, this week marked the first time he can fully rejoin the Portville basketball team.
“It’s been a constant struggle but we’re back now and putting in the work,” said DeFazio. “It feels good to be back.”
Rewinding back to November, DeFazio was in the midst of the football playoffs. As the Panthers’ star wide receiver and defensive back, he had helped Portville to a 6-2 regular season finish, earning the eighth seed in the Section VI Class C postseason and a matchup with No. 1 Newfane. DeFazio and the Panthers were ready for the challenge and came out strong, holding a 14-7 lead going into halftime. As a part of Portville’s staunch defense, DeFazio even picked off a pass and tallied a tackle.
However, things would turn in the second half.
During a Portville kick off, DeFazio went in for a tackle. Wrapping his arms around the ball carrier, he leaned back in an effort to bring his prey to the ground. That’s when he felt the hit. With his back arched, a Newfane blocker rammed into DeFazio, sending him to the ground in agony.
“I made a tackle, was bringing the kid down and I just felt something in the back. I wasn’t sure if it was my teammate, another player, helmet, knee or whatever but I went down immediately and the guys could tell that I was hurt,” said DeFazio. “I don’t remember much of what was going on but I remember the other guys yelling to get off me.”
After being down for close to seven minutes, DeFazio managed to leave the field on his own two feet. An examination by the athletic trainer would find an immediate knot forming and, although he urged his coach for a return, DeFazio’s pain returned when he attempted to warm up. Airing on the side of caution, he would not see another snap in the Panthers’ 34-21 upset against Newfane.
The following morning, DeFazio’s pain persisted, prompting a trip to the Olean General Hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken rib. Barely able to walk, he returned home but knew something wasn’t right.
“It was taking me 15 minutes to get out of bed every time I wanted to move,” said DeFazio. “Later that night, I knew it wasn’t a broken rib. I could breathe fine but I couldn’t move. On Sunday, I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed to get to the bathroom.”
As the pain and immobility worsened, his family ultimately decided to take him to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. There, DeFazio was properly diagnosed with a fractured L1, L2 and L3 vertebrae. Luckily, the injury didn’t require surgery.
“An inch or two closer to my actual spine and we could be talking about a different story here. I might have never been able to play again,” said DeFazio.
From there, DeFazio’s life as an athlete was temporarily shut down. Unfit to do physical therapy, he wasn’t allowed to run, lift weights, carry anything heavy or even walk upstairs. Whereas he typically lived most days infused with exercise, DeFazio was relegated to a sedentary lifestyle. Unable to do much more than school work, he felt condemned.
“I was pretty down about everything so, usually I don’t cry but that first week I was in tears. I was missing everything,” said DeFazio. “But my friends would come over and talk to me. They’d do anything for me. My friends and family bought me dinner and I got a lot of candy. I’m a big candy guy so that helped me a lot to say the least. It was just constant support that showed me that everyone cared.”
Defensive back Aidan DeFazio tracks the flight of the ball during the Portville football team’s 28-6 win over Fredonia on Friday, Oct. 11. | File photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Slowly over the next few weeks, progress began to show. Meticulously noting his improvement each week, DeFazio began to recover. At four weeks, he was able to increase his activities, at six weeks he began lifting weights again and finally, eight weeks after his injury, DeFazio was fully cleared to return to sports. On Monday, Dec. 30, he walked back onto the hardwood for his first practice.
DeFazio’s return was a sight for sore eyes by his teammates. Through the first six games of the season, the Panthers were becoming desperate. Without their leader – the ‘heart and soul’ as head coach Tom Yanetsko puts it – Portville had slumped to an 0-6 record. But on Monday, they got their star back.
In his first game of the season, DeFazio erupted. Knocking down six 3-pointers along the way, he tallied 25 points – the most scored by a Panther all season.
“I was so excited. Even on the drive to the game I was listening to music and was just ready to go,” said DeFazio. “I hit my first shot of the game and knew I was going to play well. I was upset we lost but I thought we showed a lot of improvement.”
While he is still not back to 100 percent – DeFazio said he is still trying to put on the weight he lost over the two months as well as getting back to game-ready conditioning – his atrophy hasn’t slowed him down a bit. Three days after the game against Randolph, DeFazio led the Panthers to their first win of the season with 32 points, scoring 22 of them in the second quarter alone.
Along with tallying the first Portville win of the season, DeFazio reached a career milestone: scoring his 1,000th point. After months of fighting pain and discomfort, not to mention the emotional and mental struggles endured during the healing process, the extra gratification came with a sense of validation.
“After the game, I was just so excited. I had a bunch of family and friends there, some friends from school and some that graduated came to watch me play. Even the other team and other parents were coming up to me and congratulating me,” said DeFazio. “It was a goal that I was working towards for a while and obviously it got shut down for a little bit because of my injury. So it was kind of a statement that I’m back and I’m coming for more.”
Between fully recovering and returning to the helm of the Panthers, DeFazio’s life is back. However, after experiencing this kind of seemingly random and traumatic accident, the newfound perspective will stick with him longer than any pain might.
“Say one of my close friends or one of my family members gets an injury like this, I know how much the support means and how much my friends helped me in that situation. I can help and get them through it,” said DeFazio. “It’s crazy how quick things can change. An inch or two away and I could never be playing basketball or walking ever again. I thank God for that. You never know what can happen and you have to be thankful for everything you have.”
In his first game back, DeFazio led the Panthers with 25 points against Randolph. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
