Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7:58PM |  46°
MENU
Advertisement
Laurel High School's football players bow their head in prayer as they attend a vigil for sophomore linebacker Hayden Hamilton Sunday night..
2
MORE

Vigil held for Laurel High School football player with serious spinal injury

Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette

Vigil held for Laurel High School football player with serious spinal injury

A large crowd was at Laurel High School’s football stadium Sunday night, but fans weren’t there to cheer on the Spartans. They came to pray for Hayden Hamilton.

Hamilton is a sophomore linebacker at Laurel who sustained a serious spinal injury Friday in a game against Rochester. Hamilton went through a nine-hour surgery Saturday at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Laurel, a small WPIAL school in New Castle, held a vigil for Hamilton Sunday night at the stadium and the place was filled. Laurel coach Brian Cooper has been at the hospital much of the weekend. Sunday morning, he saw Hamilton and talked with his parents, Chad and Melissa. Cooper said Hamilton has movement in his hands, has some feeling in his arms and is alert and able to communicate.

Advertisement

Cooper said Hamilton’s parents wanted to pass along a message.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi visiting Laurel High School football player Hayden Hamilton on Wednesday at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Mike White
Ryan Shazier, Pat Narduzzi among those with well-wishes for injured Laurel High football player

“They just want everyone to know they appreciate all the love and support and just continue to pray for them,” Cooper said. “Hopefully, we’ll see a miracle.”

Cooper went on to say, “We’re being optimistic. The next 72 hours are very critical.”

Hamilton is a 5-foot-9, 185-pound outside linebacker who also started a year ago as a freshman before a torn ACL in his knee ended his season. Hamilton had bounced back from the knee injury and also was seeing some playing time at running back on offense.

Advertisement

Hamilton was injured in the third quarter of the Rochester game. After a long delay, he was taken by ambulance to UPMC Jameson in New Castle. Cooper said Hamilton was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Children’s.

“He was making a tackle on a running play and the leg of the running back just came up and got him in the helmet,” Cooper said. “He did nothing wrong. He didn’t have his head down. It was just the running back’s legs kept pumping and the one leg caught [Hamilton] the wrong way. He went down instantly.”


Go to section

Schedules and Results
STANDINGS: WPIAL | City League
Team Pages | Sortable Statistics

The game eventually resumed, and Cooper said it finished close to 11 p.m. Rochester won, 26-14.

Hayden Hamilton smiles from the "mancave" in his house. Hamilton is a former Laurel High School football player who suffered a severe spinal cord injury while making a tackle in a game last season. He has been in a wheelchair ever since, but vows to walk again.
Mike White
Injured Laurel football player Hayden Hamilton taking it one step at a time

Chad Hamilton had a Facebook post about his son Saturday that said, “The doctors stabilized the vertebrae in his neck, and have done their best to decompress his spinal cord. They are treating him as aggressively as they can to regain as much as possible. I wish I had better news. Thank you, everyone.”

A GoFundMe page already was started Saturday for Hamilton and his family.

“This is an unfortunate accident and we’re just trying to be positive,” Cooper said. “Sometimes, we don’t fully understand things that happen the way they do. The best thing to do is just to try and keep moving forward. There has been a great outpouring of love and support from the community. It has been overwhelming in many ways the love the community has had for this kid. It’s a testament to him.

“We have to try and be patient. Everyone wants something to happen fast, but it’s going to be a long process.”

 

Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.

First Published: September 2, 2018, 4:58 p.m.

RELATED
Penn Hills' Hollis Mathis is one of the WPIAL's top throwing quarterbacks, but now is hurting defenses with his running ability.
Mike White
Penn Hills' Hollis Mathis and other WPIAL quarterbacks are on the run
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Arthur Smith walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore Ravens won 28-14.
1
sports
Joe Starkey: Was Steelers GM Omar Khan kidding with his Arthur Smith comments?
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, left, and general manager Omar Khan stand on the field before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
2
sports
2025 NFL salary cap is up to $279 million. Here's what that means for the Steelers
Mayor Ed Gainey, left, shakes Police Chief Larry Scirotto’s hand after a news conference regarding the recent release of the staffing report for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in the North Side.
3
news
PG Politics: Ripple effects of former Pittsburgh police chief's abrupt retirement
Kevin Colbert congratulates Ben Roethlisberger after the Steelers beat the Jaguars 20-16 on Nov. 18, 2018, at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
4
sports
Brian Batko's Steelers mailbag: How similar is this QB situation to the 2021 predicament?
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) dives for a first down against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in the North Shore. The Cincinnati Bengals won 19-17.
5
sports
Steelers talking with Najee Harris' representation at NFL combine
Laurel High School's football players bow their head in prayer as they attend a vigil for sophomore linebacker Hayden Hamilton Sunday night..  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Madison Fitzgerald, left, 15, and Eylon Hemskey, center, both of Shenango, hold hands in prayer as they attend a vigil for Laurel High School sophomore linebacker Hayden Hamilton, who suffered a serious spinal injury in a game Friday night.  (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story