Rusty Glascock remembers Oct. 24, 2019 better than any pancake block his offensive linemen at Valley View High School have successfully completed.

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon when 35-year-old Curtis Glascock, Rusty's son, was headed home to eat lunch and change clothes before heading to his second job.

“Basically, he drifted off the road and hit a round bail that flipped over onto the hood of his car,” said Rusty Glascock, Valley View's offensive line coach.

Curtis was immediately rushed to Medical City Denton Hospital.

“We were in Week 8 of our season; it was the day before a game and we were running through drills in the gym when I got a phone call from the front office saying there was a lady on the phone for me,” Rusty said. “And right there everything changed.”

After running his license plate number, all the information the paramedics had was Curtis’ name. It just so happened that one of the nurses working in the emergency room noticed Curtis’ name and knew who they needed to call because she was taught by Coach Glascock in high school.

Without knowing how serious the injury was, he left immediately, barreling through the intense storm to make it down to Denton.

“When I got there, they already had him all hooked up to intubation,” Rusty recalled.

The accident had fractured Curtis’ spine right at the C6 vertebrae, which rest right at the base of the neck, causing Curtis to be paralyzed from his chest down.

“He has use of his arms,” Rusty said. “He doesn’t have a lot of strength in his arms yet, but we’re hoping that he’ll gain more strength.”

Curtis stayed at Medical City for two weeks before transferring to Baylor Scott & White in Dallas to begin a two-and-a-half-month extensive physical therapy process.

So much improvement was made that Baylor Scott & White allowed him to go home for the day on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Coach Glascock was able to quickly build short-term ramps that would allow Curtis’ motorized wheelchair to make it into the house.

“We weren’t sure if it would fit but we measured and re-measured and made sure he was able to get around," Rusty said.

“We were all kind of worried about him coming at Thanksgiving, but he wanted to come,” smiled Rusty. “I think the whole family really wanted him to come very badly.”

While those two days will forever hold a special place in the hearts of the Glascocks, reality crept back to the forefront. Curtis was a husband and the father to two young children - Brock who is 5 and Shae who is 3. Life was about to be extremely different for the entire family.

“My wife, Curtis’ wife and his sister spent a lot of time at the hospital with Curtis and basically I would go down there to relieve them,” Rusty reflected on the time following the accident. “My big job was back at home. Take care of the grandkids, get them to school and tried to keep their lives as normal as we could.”  

All of that is enough to be considered a full-time job. To noone's surprise, the long-time football coach knew that regardless of how busy he was at home, he was not going to forget about his players at Valley View.

“He had to be with his son and that was his first priority,” Valley View head coach Curtis King said. “But I think he also had made a commitment to himself to be with the kids at school and he was really just remarkable during this whole process.”

Coach Glascock used any spare minute to make sure his linemen knew that even if he wasn’t physically there at times, he was going to do whatever he could to still help guide them to victory.

“Sitting at the hospital, I would get on my phone and watch Hudl and kind of do all my evaluations, scouting off of film, and drawling up game plans,” Rusty said. “I tried to do the best I could with the situation.”

He only missed two games that season and was back on the field to help lead Valley View through five rounds of the playoffs.

“He’s got high character. He’s one of those guys you want your son to go play for,” King said.

It has now been just over six months since life changed in the blink of an eye for the Glascock family. Curtis is able to be at home with his family and continues to make strides in a positive direction every day.

“He’s going through some hard times realizing he can’t do all the things that he used to do, but he has goals that he set,” Rusty said.

Curtis was told when in the Baylor Scott & White physical therapy center that the best way to keep a positive outlook is to set realistic goals.

One of his big goals has been accomplished.

“Last summer he purchased a zero-turn mower and he wanted to be able to get on that and mow the yard," Rusty said. "That was one of his goals and he was able to do it and mow around the house.”

It is moments like that, that has taken a new shape to the way Rusty Glascock coaches.

“As an older coach sometimes, we tend to aggressively challenge kids to give more than they’re giving,” he said. “Now, I am a little more laid back and clam about how I coach while still trying to achieve the same thing.”

While Rusty continues to help out his family in every way he can, he plans to continue to coach part-time and shape the lives of the student-athletes at Valley View.

“We’re so grateful that we were able to spend as many years as we have in Valley View and that we have the community support that we’ve got,” Rusty said. “And as much as anything, we are just so thankful that he’s still alive. We are thankful to God for that.”