Sophomore Dylan Falck was at the State Wrestling meet held at the Wells Fargo arena in Des Moines. On Feb. 15, Falck experienced a traumatic injury when he was thrown down, fracturing his C3 Vertebrae and knocking him unconscious.

“I was very scared, after the injury everything was tingly,” Falck said.  He did not remember what happened until he watched the video of his match.“I had a pretty bad concussion so it’s all foggy.”

Falck was taken to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines next to the Wells Fargo Arena. He was in a neck brace for seven weeks without taking it off. Falck recently got out of the brace on April 6. Although he isn’t required to have the brace on 24/7, he must still use it daily.

“At first, we didn’t think it was that bad,” Amanda Falck, Dylan’s mother said. “When we saw them bringing out the stretcher, we went into panic mode.”

Wrestling coach Craig Mallicoat describes the incident as a “completely freak accident.”

“When you actually find out a student broke their vertebrae, you forget about the sport side, and you just think of the student,” Mallicoat said. “You don’t see this often.”

After Falck’s injury, he was out of school for nine days. His team and friends supported and visited him often.

Falck says his doctor does not think going back to wrestling is a good idea because if injured again it could be worse. But, Falck wants to anyway. “I’ve been doing it my whole life, since Kindergarten or first grade.”

Mallicoat says if Falck goes back he thinks in the beginning “there will be a mental block” for Dylan, “but I think he will be right back, hopefully better than before this injury.”

Even with being out of school for so long, Falck’s teachers were understanding and supported him by exempting assignments and giving gifts, and he has been able to maintain a good GPA. His mother has been helping him by carrying anything over five pounds, driving him, switching his braces out, and controlling the pain for his first three weeks.

“Dylan’s a really tough kid, he’s going to bounce back from it, and I think people should come out and watch him,” Mallicoat said. “Normally, kids would quit after something like this, but Dylan is showing them that you can overcome.”