--- title: Quick Thinking by Opposing Team’s Athletic Trainer Saves Teen’s Life After Rare Football Injury description: A 15-year-old football player survived a rare kidney injury thanks to an opposing team’s Athletic Trainer’s quick action that doctors say saved his life. image: https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg --- [ All posts ](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/all) June 23, 2026 # Quick Thinking by Opposing Team’s Athletic Trainer Saves Teen’s Life After Rare Football Injury ![Picture of Tim Clark](https://blog.healthyroster.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Tim%20Clark.jpg?width=50&name=Tim%20Clark.jpg) By  [ Tim Clark ](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/author/tim-clark)  ·  1 minute read ![Articles for Athletic Trainers and News Stories](https://blog.healthyroster.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20News%20and%20Articles%20-%20Small.png?width=500&height=150&name=Athletic%20Training%20News%20and%20Articles%20-%20Small.png) When 15-year-old Brayden McClish took the field for Airport High School’s JV football game on October 23, he had no idea it would end in a life-threatening emergency. After being tackled and coming down hard on the football, another player landed on top of him—causing a rare and severe kidney injury. *“I just remember I was hyped going into the game…and I remember I was running the ball over and over and over,” McClish recalled. “I just remember seeing him grab my jersey, seeing the ground, and me not getting back up.”* On the opposing sideline, Avondale High School’s Athletic Trainer, Landon Lalonde, immediately recognized that something was wrong. *“He was having pain in his abdomen and ribs on the left side,” Lalonde said. “We got Brayden onto the cart, took him around to the visitor's side, and told his mom, ‘He has to go to the hospital right now—it cannot wait.’”* That decision proved critical. Doctors told the McClish family that if Brayden had arrived just 20 minutes later, the outcome could have been fatal. His kidney doctor described the injury as “extremely rare,” occurring in only about five pediatric cases nationwide each year. Brayden’s mother, Ashley, called it:  * “The scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my whole entire life,” while his father, Jeff, expressed gratitude for the outpouring of community support. “People that we aren’t even close to reached out to say, ‘If you need anything, we’re here.’ It’s just very touching,” he said.* Though one kidney now functions at only 25%, Brayden’s spirit remains unbroken. *“Give me that year to recover,” he said confidently, “and I’ll be back on that field." * Check out the full story [here](https://www.wxyz.com/news/positively-detroit/high-school-football-player-survives-life-threatening-kidney-injury-thanks-to-opposing-teams-trainer)!  Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury) [twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury) ## Related posts [![](https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg) ](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/athletic-trainers-quick-thinking-and-cpr-save-teen-athletes-life) [Athletic Trainers Save Lives](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/tag/athletic-trainers-save-lives) ### [Athletic Trainer’s Quick Thinking and CPR Save Teen Athlete’s Life](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/athletic-trainers-quick-thinking-and-cpr-save-teen-athletes-life) [![](https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg) ](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/ohiohealths-medical-team-keeps-20000-athletes-safe-at-arnold-sports-festival) [ATs Covering Arnold Sports Festival](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/tag/ats-covering-arnold-sports-festival) ### [OhioHealth’s Medical Team Keeps 20,000 Athletes Safe at Arnold Sports Festival](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/ohiohealths-medical-team-keeps-20000-athletes-safe-at-arnold-sports-festival) [![](https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg) ](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/athletic-trainers-quick-action-and-aed-save-teens-life-on-the-field) [ATs Save Lives](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/tag/ats-save-lives) ### [Athletic Trainers' Quick Action and AED Save Teen's Life on the Field](https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/athletic-trainers-quick-action-and-aed-save-teens-life-on-the-field) ![websights](https://ws.zoominfo.com/pixel/633f1c8a5a797886caf77a14) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Tim Clark", "url" : "https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/author/tim-clark" }, "dateModified" : "2026-06-23T14:08:09.837Z", "datePublished" : "2025-11-10T13:55:58.000Z", "headline" : "Quick Thinking by Opposing Team’s Athletic Trainer Saves Teen’s Life After Rare Football Injury", "image" : [ "https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.healthyroster.com/hubfs/2026%20HR%20Logo%20w%20Tagline_Full%20Color-1.png" }, "name" : "Healthy Roster" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : [ "Tim Clark" ], "url" : "https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/author/tim-clark" }, "datePublished" : "2025-11-10T13:55:58+0000", "description" : "A 15-year-old football player survived a rare kidney injury thanks to an opposing team’s Athletic Trainer’s quick action that doctors say saved his life.", "headline" : "Quick Thinking by Opposing Team’s Athletic Trainer Saves Teen’s Life After Rare Football Injury", "image" : "https://6581845.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6581845/Athletic%20Training%20And%20Sports%20Medicine%20News-1.jpg", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://6581845.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6581845/2026%20HR%20Logo%20w%20Tagline_Full%20Color-1.png" }, "name" : "Healthy Roster" }, "url" : "https://blog.healthyroster.com/blog/quick-thinking-by-opposing-teams-athletic-trainer-saves-teens-life-after-rare-football-injury" } ```