Blake and Krista Munroe have watched the video of the football hit that nearly killed their son countless times.
They’ve shown it to everybody - friends, the Comanche High School coaches, the ICU staff at Cook Children’s, even to each other when they question if it was all some horrible nightmare.
It’s the same reaction every time.
Wait, that’s it?
During a November 5, 2024, practice, Comanche sophomore Colt Munroe lines up as an inside wide receiver and runs a quick slant across the middle of the field. Everyone is moving at half speed - it’s deep in the regular season, and playoffs are on the horizon. Colt jumps for the ball, hand extended. On his way down, the safety stands near his landing spot, two arms outstretched. Colt is defenseless. The safety could take his head off. Instead, he shoves Colt’s midsection like he’s playing two-hand touch letting everyone know he would’ve tackled Colt if this was a game.
It’s a play that happens at every practice at every school. Except when Colt gets up, he can’t catch his breath. Then he starts puking. And doesn’t stop. After a couple minutes, he tries to return. The coaches hold him out. It’s the first of several decisions that save Colt’s life.
After practice, as the football team trudges back to school for the rest of the day, Colt’s cousin catches him outside the locker room. Colt’s shoes aren’t on correctly. There’s dried blood on the corners of his mouth. His cousin asks him where he’s going.
“I’m going back out there,” Colt says.
“Bro, practice is over,” his cousin responds.
At lunch, Colt’s friends tell him he looks pale. He can’t feel his shoulder. It hurts to breathe. He texts his family group chat, asking if someone can pick him up.
This is the second event that saves him. Colt had his driver’s license and his own truck. But the family had to bring the truck into the shop the day before. It was the first time it’d ever given them trouble. So, Blake drove to the school to get him, thinking his son had broken a rib. If Colt had his truck, he would probably have told him to drive home and take some Tylenol. The doctor will later tell the family that if they’d gone to the emergency room thirty minutes later, he would’ve died.
Colt pukes during the X-ray, blood work and CT scan. Once his urine sample shows blood, the doctors realize it’s his spleen, the organ that acts as a blood filter next to the stomach. The doctors tell Blake and Krista they are CareFlighting Colt to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth in 15 minutes. He’ll be in for a splenectomy surgery when his parents arrive, wake up a couple hours later, and then return home to Comanche that weekend.
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