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Less than two years ago, Brody Sikes was a sophomore at Broken Bow almost his entire athletic future ahead of him.
A few months later, Sikes was fighting for his leg and his life.
Sikes was out checking trap lines in December of 2006. A friend was walking behind him. The friend fell and his 20-gauge shot gun went off, hitting Sikes in the leg.
Suddenly, Sikes' life had changed forever.
Sikes was told at one time that he might lose his leg, but he fought through it.
"It was very bad," Sikes said. "Two months in the hospital, 101 units of blood and 20 surgeries.
"I'm definitely lucky. I lost 40 pounds, but I've gained it all back."
Sikes got back into athletic action for the first time since the accident on March 20 when he threw the discus at the Hastings Invitational, held this year at Grand Island Northwest.
His throw of about 128 feet would be nothing spectacular for any high school athlete, but Sikes was just glad to be back in action.
"I don't know how he ended up doing today," Broken Bow coach Kirk Petit said during the meet, "but to me, a kid comes back from that, anything he does is a bonus.
"That's the beauty of high school athletics. A kid almost loses his leg and a year later he's out competing in varsity athletics."
The fact that he can't spin and throw the discus like he used to doesn't bother Sikes at all.
"I can't throw full because it's hard to spin on my left foot," Sikes said. "So I throw powers. I have been working on it. It's kind of a give-and-take deal. We'll have to see how it goes."
Sikes missed the football and basketball seasons the last two years after being honorable mention All-District for football his sophomore season.
"Before the accident, he was really one of those up and comers in the area," Petit said. "Obviously it's kind of tough getting back into it after being out.
"He was great at football. He was great at basketball. Due to his recovery, he just wasn't able to play those sports this year."
Sikes narrowly missed out on qualifying for state in the shot put his sophomore season. With Cozad's Lucas Pinkelman and Jared Crick along with Aurora's Carter Wasem in the same district, Sikes was left sitting at home despite a district throw that would have placed him sixth at state.
Sikes could throw the shot put this year, but said he'd rather let some of the younger throwers participate instead.
"To me, just getting out there and throwing is a huge victory," Petit said. "From where he was when I saw him laying in the hospital bed to where he is now, that's an inspiration.
"If he never went to a hospital again, I think he'd be really happy with that."
Sikes will also be happy just to participate in track this spring. He doesn't have any high aspirations. He just wants to support his teammates.
His coach certainly appreciates Sikes' contributions to the team.
"He's a walking inspiration to me," Petit said. "He could have easily just taken this year off, but instead he's worked himself back into shape and now he's throwing for us.
"He could have given up. They told him they might have to take his leg and he fought it all the way through and now here he is out competing again."
Sikes helped coach the Broken Bow football team last year. He also attended nearly all the Broken Bow basketball games this winter to lend his moral support.
Sikes will graduate on May 10. Next year, he will attend Fort Hays State College where he will join the shooting team.
Shooting is the one activity the accident didn't affect.
"It didn't hurt my shooting much," Sikes said. "That's about the only thing it didn't hurt."
Annual CNTC meet coming soon
The annual Central Nebraska Track and Field Championships sponsored by The Independent are scheduled for April 21 at Memorial Stadium in Grand Island.
All area athletes are eligible to compete. Schools considered in The Independent's coverage area are: Adams Central, Ansley, Arcadia, Aurora, Boone Central, Broken Bow, Burwell, Cedar Rapids, Central City, Centura, Doniphan-Trumbull, Elba, Fullerton, Gibbon, Giltner, Grand Island, Grand Island CC, Grand Island NW, Greeley-Wolbach, Hampton, Hastings, Hastings St. Cecilia, Heartland High, Heartland Lutheran, High Plains, Kenesaw, Litchfield, Loup City, Loup County, Nebraska Christian, North Loup-Scotia, Ord, Osceola, Palmer, Ravenna, Sargent, St. Edward, St. Paul, Shelton, Spalding/Spalding Academy, Twin River, Wheeler Central and Wood River.
All area track coaches should have received meet information from Grand Island assistant coach Kelley Ward via e-mail. Any area coach who hasn't received any information can e-mail Ward at mward@gips.org or call the Senior High activities office at (308) 385-5581.
All athletes must be entered with Ward to compete in the meet.
Class A track ratings
Omaha Westside coach John Preister has started to compiling coaches' ratings for Class A teams this season.
Here are the latest ratings with total points and first-place votes in parenthesis:
Class A Boys
1. Kearney (10) 100
2. Fremont 84
3. Millard West 68
4. Omaha Central 61
5. Omaha Westside 55
6. Millard South 45
7. Norfolk 42
8. Ralston 33
9. Omaha North 23
10. Bellevue West 12
Others receiving votes: Omaha Northwest 7; Papillion-LaVista 6; Lincoln Southwest 4; Grand Island 4; Omaha Burke 2; Bellevue East 2; Columbus 1; Lincoln Northeast 1
Class A Girls
1. Millard North (7) 10
2. Millard West (1) 100
3. Omaha Westside (1) 89
4. Lincoln Southeast (2) 84
5. Kearney 76
6. Grand Island (1) 73
7. Papillion LaVista 39
8. Lincoln Southwest 18
9. Norfolk 17
10. Lincoln Pius X 16
Others receiving votes: Omaha Marian 14; Omaha North 11; Omaha Central 7; Fremont 2; Papillion LaVista South 4
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