Whether he ever suits up for the University of Virginia football team is irrelevant.
Former Woodberry Forest quarterback Jacob Rainey has moved beyond the horrific injury that resulted in the amputation of most of his right leg in the fall of 2011.
He?s become the face of something bigger, and has enthusiastically embraced the new role.
It hasn?t been easy, but the 19-year-old Charlottesville native has persevered through the ordeal, showing the courage and determination that made his return to the football field as a high school senior last fall such a compelling story.
?I?ve never once asked, ?Why me?? because that would have made me pity myself and that?s never been me,? Rainey said recently. ?I?d rather it happened to me than one of my friends or anybody else. I was tough enough to get through it. The fact that I?m able to help other people with my troubles makes it all worth it.?
Rainey will add to the narrative when he joins the Cavaliers as a student?manager this fall with hopes of playing in 2014 as a preferred walk-on.
That means assisting Virginia?s new offensive coordinator, Steve Fairchild, during his first year by serving as an extra pair of eyes and breaking down film.
What comes after that is unclear, but Rainey already has overcome a lot, whether or not he plays again.
?He?s been such a great inspiration,? said his mother, Kathy Rainey, ?and he?s helped a lot of people with his story?including ourselves?to heal and move forward.?
STANFORD LEFT Q35 POWER
It was a routine play that fateful afternoon of Sept. 3, 2011. One that Rainey, a nimble 6-foot-3, 225-pound major college prospect who was often compared to Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, had run countless times.
Only disaster struck this time.
?I took off left and I cut back, and when I cut back, there was a guy right there at my knee,? Rainey recalled. ?I just fell to the ground. I didn?t really feel it. I looked down and my leg was sticking out sideways.?
Rainey suffered a dislocated right knee, but the injury?s true severity only later became clear.
An artery in the leg had been severed and had begun cutting off circulation. Battling fever and possible kidney failure, Rainey remained in a Fairfax hospital for nearly a week as doctors fought to save his life?not to mention his leg.
They succeeded on the former, but not with the latter.
Kathy Rainey remembers the night she and her husband, Lee, broke the news to their son.
?I believe that was the hardest thing that either of us has had to do in our lives,? she said.
But it wasn?t until Rainey awoke following the procedure that it really sank in that his right leg had been amputated from just above the kneecap.
He was devastated.
?I just broke down and cried,? Rainey recalls.
Word of his misfortune spread, reaching some of the biggest names in sports. He was soon inundated with messages and gifts from well-wishers, including University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews.
Virginia coach Mike London referred to Rainey during his weekly press conference in the days following the injury, although he did not specifically mention his name, per NCAA rules.
Rainey spent 25 days in the hospital, dropping 60 pounds before finally returning home. He?d been back for roughly 90 minutes when the reality of his new existence rudely greeted him.
Hearing his mother call, Rainey instinctively jumped off his bed, momentarily forgetting the physical trauma he?d just endured.
He crashed to the floor, tearing open the freshly sewn stitches in his stump as blood shot everywhere. His parents frantically gathered their son and rushed to a nearby hospital as Jacob screamed in agony.
Emotionally spent, the family returned home several hours later with Jacob sobbing in his room throughout much of the night.
THE ROAD BACK
Nobody had ever played with an above-the-knee amputation, but an invigorated Rainey welcomed the challenge and was back on the practice fields after receiving his first prosthesis in December 2011.
Word reached Tebow and the supportive then-Denver Broncos quarterback invited Rainey to Buffalo for a game.
?Being able to be with him and hang out with him and see his courage and his outlook on life really inspired me,? Tebow told ESPN?s ?E:60? program.
However, Rainey?s return wasn?t without setbacks in the form of occasional infections and occasional frustration with the limited mobility afforded to him by the prosthesis.
He overcame those obstacles, too.
Rainey?s presence assured Woodberry?s opener against visiting Benedictine in September of national media attention. He was understandably nervous, but no more so than Tigers coach Clint Alexander.
?I was a mess,? he admitted. ?I?d never been in a situation where we could lose the game in more than one way.?
Rainey settled down quickly, leading Woodberry to a touchdown on its opening drive. Alexander broke down as he greeted his quarterback coming off the field.
Rainey threw his first touchdown pass two weeks later and finished the season having completed 10 of 15 passes for 141 yards and three scores without an interception in five appearances.
He?s grateful, even if it hasn?t been the path he might have envisioned.
?I never would have thought for one second that this was going to be the route I was going to take [to Division I football],? Rainey said, ?but it?s all worked out. I?m going to the school I wanted to attend and I?m going to play football. I guess everything happens for a reason.?
Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/sports/2013/03/07/football-rainey-turns-loss-into-gain/
Source: http://news.fredericksburg.com/sports/2013/03/07/football-rainey-turns-loss-into-gain/
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