‘Everything kind of felt like slow motion.’ Vallivue state champ recounts freak injury
A week after a freak injury, Vallivue junior David Gummersall was in the stands at the Idaho high school state track and field championships cheering on his teammates.
He wanted to fulfill his duty as a team captain, even if it meant confronting some difficult emotions.
“I’m sure it was so hard for him, but that just shows you the kind of teammate he is,” Vallivue junior Jackson McDonald said. “He’s still going out and supporting us a few days after surgery.”
Gummersall was running the anchor leg of the Falcons’ 4x400-meter relay at the 4A District Three meet May 10 when his right leg gave out and he collapsed on the track about 25 yards from the finish line. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where it was determined he broke his tibia and fibula. He had surgery the next morning to insert a metal rod and pins to stabilize his leg.
The injury deprived Gummersall of the chance to defend his state championship in the 400. On the same night he broke his leg, Gummersall won the district title in the 400 in what was then a state-leading time of 48.13 seconds. He was in the lead and on pace for another record performance for his team in the 4x400 when he went down.
“I wasn’t screaming or anything. It was shock for sure. I knew that I broke my leg, because I felt a twinge,” Gummersall said. “I was trying to back off and I started falling, and I remember everything kind of felt like slow motion.”
Gummersall said he began experiencing pain in his right leg at the Bandanna Invite the last week in April. An X-ray did not show any signs of a fracture, he said.
“They recommended an MRI, but we wouldn’t have been able to get in to get one until after districts anyway,” Gummersall said. “So we just treated it like it was a strain or shin splints. So we were doing all we could to manage it.”
Gummersall took nearly two weeks off from running before the district meet and stayed in shape by swimming and biking. He said his leg was bothering him after he won the 400, but he decided to compete in the 4x400 anyway.
“I was for sure devastated, but going to watch the state meet kind of helped me come to terms with it,” Gummersall said. “I know that there’s nothing more I could have done. I did everything I could have in the moment, because we were unaware that it was a stress fracture. So we did the best that we could.
“And even if my leg didn’t break in the 4x400, it probably would have broken at state at some point.”
As medical personnel attended to Gummersall on the track after his injury, athletes and coaches on the infield at Ridgevue High took a knee. The Bishop Kelly team gathered in prayer, as did the Vallivue squad, witnesses said. The stadium was eerily silent.
“It’s just melted in my mind, the picture of his face, seeing his arms swing around and seeing him fall and then running quickly towards him and seeing his leg’s not in the spot it should be. For me, that was just straight shocking,” said McDonald, who was part of Vallivue’s 4x400 relay team. “I don’t even remember the other teams passing by. I couldn’t tell you how long it was until the ambulance came or how long it was until I started to go to the hospital to meet him.
“Time just seemed to freeze. It was about to be one of the happier moments in my life and then it all shut down so quickly. It was really hard to believe. There’s no way that just happened.”
Gummersall said he expects to make a full recovery, but it will certainly be a challenging process. His aunt started a GoFundMe to help offset some of the medical expenses. His goal is to be back in time to compete for the Falcons in track next spring.
“I’m just looking forward to this next year and really trying to have a full, healthy season where I can compete and get that state title back,” Gummersall said.
