HALLSVILLE, Texas — Hallsville's Keeton Davis played for the 7th grade B football team.
During last weeks game against Pine Tree, Davis was hit by multiple players after he was down, which resulted in a spinal cord injury. He was hit along his knees, and head-to-head. Davis couldn't move after the initial hit and was taken off the field in a stretcher.
Davis was transferred to a Fort Worth children's neurosurgery hospital where he was diagnosed with an acute traumatic injury to the cervical spine, causing his to never play football again.
"Keeton was down longer than what I'm use to seeing" said family friend, Kaydee Gills. "As soon as I got down to the field, he lifted his hand and it was shaking."
Davis' mom, Misty Chastain was at work when the incident happened.
"I got the call, and was told he had a neck injury and he couldn't move," said Chastain. "I didn't want anything bad to happen to him, to him, it was a long ambulance ride."
Davis can't lift anything over 5 pounds, and can't play another contact sport again in his life.
He has 4-6 weeks of recovery before he goes back to Fort Worth for another MRI, and until then he takes his medication everyday and has been resting.
The Hallsville coaching staff agreed to make Davis a team leader for the rest of the season.
"We all brought this to the table, and we kind of had this idea, if you can't be out there on the field with us, we're going to make sure you're a part of this team, because you started the season with us, you're going to finish with us in whatever form," said Coach Chase Hiles. "Just for him to be in that kind of aspect of things, on the sideline and being like a coach and helping us out with that student morale and everything that's a really great task for him to do and he jumped on board with it quick."
One week later, Hallsville high school quarterback Josh Seal was injured during a game.
This most recent event has prompted Davis and his family to urge the community to use his story as a lesson.
"If I could say one thing is that the coaches would focus a little more on how to hit each other. If these boys are taught young, where to hit, how to hit, maybe a little more intensely on that part of it, there won't be so many injuries," said Gills.
The family of Davis has started a GoFundMe, open to everyone.