There is some very inspiring and uplifting news coming out of the San Jose State football program to share this morning.
May 20th, the San Jose State football program confirmed, Kyane Schmidt was involved in a single-car rollover crash, which caused the redshirt freshman to be ejected from the vehicle. Details surrounding the wreck itself weren’t divulged at the time.
The aftermath, however, was horrific.
“[Schmidt] suffered a major brain injury,” the player’s parents wrote on the Caring Bridge website. “He was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in a deep coma. The doctor said he will be in a coma for multiple weeks. He’s going to need to fight… We believe in him.”
A little over two months later, after spending several weeks in a coma, Schmidt returned home late last month. The parents again detailed the development on the same website.‘Kyane is doing fantastic’ were the exact words from Kyane’s doctor over many updates echoed in the last few weeks, which have gone by with a blur. The detailed briefings from the medical staff have been a little far in between as they have navigated the schedule for updates amid Covid and the ever changing rules, but the wait has been worth it for the amazing news that we have been anticipating. Kyane is finally coming home tomorrow 7/30/20. I prayed from the first day that I would hear those words and a little over 2 months later, they are music to my ears and the reality that my son is coming home is so humbling.
Over the weeks, Kyane’s personality has emerged in full, finally without being held back as the last of his medications came to a recent stop. As he was emerging from the coma and using words that were uncommon in his vocabulary, now his usual jokes, smirks, facial expressions and familiarly used verbiage reveal that Kyane is close to 100% back and I feel he is mentally stronger than ever. Kyane has a determination and conviction that I know he never imagined he would use in overcoming a battle such as this, but years of training, focus, and sacrifice have given him the strength he might not even have realized he had to face this situation head on.
At this point, it’s unclear what Schmidt’s football future holds.
As a true freshman this past season, Schmidt was a walk-on offensive lineman. He didn’t play a down for the Spartans in 2019.
Prior to the coronavirus shutting down the sport, Schmidt was transitioning to the other side of the line.
