‘We Are Blessed’: Moniteau’s Trent Beachem, Who Was Transported By Medical Helicopter After Breaking His Femur on Friday Night, Walks Out of Hospital on Sunday

WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — With the help of crutches, Trent Beachem slowly walked out of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on Sunday.

It was a remarkable scene given what had happened to the sophomore quarterback on the Moniteau football team less than 48 hours earlier.

(Submitted photos)

Beachem scrambled out of the pocket and was looking for a receiver downfield when he was tackled from behind by 250-pound defensive lineman Josh Beal of Keystone.

The force caused Beachem’s femur — the longest and strongest bone in the human body — to snap in half.

“When I went down, I tried to get up and them my right leg kind of felt numb from my heel up to my thigh,” Beachem said. “My thigh felt really tight and I wasn’t able to stand.”

He immediately knew the injury was severe.

When medical personnel evaluated him, they came to a quick conclusion that Beachem needed to be transported by medical helicopter to Children’s Hospital.

A break like the one Beachem suffered to his femur could be life-threatening.

Once the severity of the injury was known, Travis Beachem, Trent’s father and assistant coach with the Warriors, raced down from the press box to the field.

“I know how tough he is and I knew if he didn’t get up, he’s really hurt,” Travis said. “When I saw our athletic director, Luke (Kunkel), summon the ambulance, I took off for the field.”

When he got there, Trent looked up at him and said, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’”

He also told his father to tell his mother, Lori, that he was OK.

Trent handled the scary injury the way he handles most other things — with uncommon poise.

As he was being wheeled off the field, Trent put both thumbs into the air to assure the crowd, which had fallen silent, that he was fine.

“I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that I was all right,” Trent said. “That I was gonna be Ok.”

He also had a unique take on being transported by helicopter to the hospital.

“I thought that was kind of cool. I never flew before,” Trent said. “I figured that might be an interesting experience.”

Trent said the pain didn’t really set in until he was lying in a bed in the hospital later on Friday night.

“When they were moving me from bed to be,” Trent said, “I could really feel it.”

Trent had surgery Saturday morning.

A titanium rod was inserted to stabilize the break, as well as a metal plate and a series of screws.

The two ends of the broken bone will fuse and heal around the rod, which Trent will have for the rest of his life.

Unbelievably, Trent is already able to put some weight on his repaired leg and we was cleared to return to school on Monday. He will require physical therapy and three to six months to fully heal.

He is expected to make a complete recovery.

“They’re very optimistic,” Travis said. “They said everything’s amazing and that he’s one of the tougher kids they’ve had. They said usually football players are actually pretty whiny about it. But he took it like a trooper.”

Make no mistake, though. The break was severe.

Doctors showed the family the X-ray of his leg.

“Where it was broken it had slid up and crossed,” Travis said. “The length of his leg was two inches shorter than his other leg. You looked at it on Friday and his leg was not really facing the right way. It was bad. Bad. Two days later, for him to walk out of the hospital — that’s pretty awesome.”

So was the outpouring of support from Trent’s teammates, coaches, classmates and the community.

Social media was abuzz with prayers for Trent.

Moniteau head football coach Bob Rottman and his wife visited with Trent on Friday night.

Trent’s parents got many requests for visitors on Friday and Saturday, but had to turn most of them away.

“A lot of players wanted to come down and some of the other coaches wanted to come down and I just put a hold on it because I didn’t know how he was going to be after surgery,” Travis said. “All of that stuff was overwhelming.”

“We are so humbled by the support,” Lori said. “It was so overwhelming.”

“Even some Keystone players and family members reached out,” Trent added.

Trent, who is also on the track and field team at Moniteau, is hoping to be healthy and cleared by spring.

For now, he’s just grateful he was able to walk out of the hospital so soon after such a serious injury. He’s also in awe of the support and well wishes he’s received throughout this harrowing experience.

“We’re very blessed,” Lori said. “He’s have a full recovery with no limitations.”

“I think my positive attitude has been huge,” Trent said. “Just being positive and knowing that everything is going to be OK and so many people are supporting me has been so great. It’s just all been awesome and I can’t wait to come back and play next year.”