By Bill Sorrell
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
All Kody Kasey was supposed to do was block a player on a routine punt return during the 2014 homecoming game of Georgetown College in Kentucky.
But something went horribly wrong.
“I got hit at the right spot at the wrong time,” he said. “Instantly I went dizzy. I had no idea what was happening. Everything was twirling and twirling and I start falling backwards.”
He hit the ground in slow motion, he said. Even the guy he was blocking stopped for a second.
Everyone knew the injury was bad.
But in the months to come, Kasey would find out it was worse than he could’ve ever imagined in that moment.
At Georgetown Community Hospital, he learned that his tibia and fibula had snapped. A titanium rod was inserted to stabilize his right leg. It would be the first of nine surgeries.
“After the first one, my mind was, ‘I am going to get this done and I am going to be back on the field next year, no problem,’” Kasey said. But a six-month checkup brought bad news — no bone growth and an infection was killing tissue and skin.
“That was frustrating. After almost a year you would think your bone would grow to be healed completely,” he said.
After the sixth surgery, doctors told him he could continue surgeries and perhaps have a gimp leg the rest of his life or he could go another route — amputation.
“At 19 or 20 years old, those are the last words you want to hear,” Kasey said. “It was hard taking that in. It took a lot of prayer, and throughout this time I was growing in my faith. I really had to rely on God’s strength to get me through this.”
Taking God’s Word to heart
Kasey said while he was in the hospital, God talked to him through His Word.
“He kept revealing things to me. One of the verses that kept popping up was Romans 12:12 — ‘Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.’”
He took those words to heart.
“I began to pray, seeking direction,” he said. “Growing up, I was in a very religious Catholic family. I thought I had a relationship with God. I knew God. My relationship with God was not where it needed to be. My injury got to the point where I realized I couldn’t do everything on my own and I gave my life to Christ. Christ found me. It was not by mind and strength alone, it was God’s.”
On Nov. 16, 2015, at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, Kasey’s leg was amputated below the knee.
“He lost his leg but gained his soul,” said Godwin Igwebuike, a defensive back at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who grew up with Kasey in Pickerington, Ohio. “God has completely transformed him from lukewarm to on fire for Christ. He’s an inspiration to me, both as an athlete and man of God.”
About two months later, Kasey was fitted with a prosthesis made of a strong and flexible carbon fiber. He walked out of the hospital the day he got it and was told by doctors how rare that is.
“God gave me the opportunity for mobility again,” Kasey said. “It felt so great to get walking.” Rehab was one step at a time — balancing exercises, weightlifting, treadmill.
Georgetown head coach Bill Cronin said Kasey was determined to come back. “I thought he would come back to be a student coach,” Cronin said. “We would find a role. But in his mind he was coming back to play.”
And play he did.
On Sept. 1, 2016, Kasey suited up for the first time since he broke his leg.
“The first time I stepped on the field was a feeling of overwhelming joy,” he said. “I didn’t play that game. I didn’t care. It was the fact that Jesus gave me the strength to overcome and be on the field, all to bring glory to Him.”
Two weeks later, he played against Cincinnati Christian.
“My faith is everything. It has got me through. I wouldn’t be here today without it,” Kasey said.
During the 2016 season he made “big tackles” against Kentucky Christian and a “highlight-of-the-year” 41-yard kickoff return against Bluefield College, which is in West Virginia. This season he has “quite a few” tackles on kickoff-team coverage.
“He maintains mental strength to persevere (toward) his dreams,” Cronin said. “I pray that others could learn something from his persistent determination and desires. I thought that was his greatest thing, to see him inspire others.”
Kasey’s faith is genuine, Cronin said. “He is a kid who has strong beliefs. … You can draw inspiration from it. It doesn’t matter the situation, Kody is going to find the positive.”
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