A high school football player from Keyport is the latest to be injured in a series of critical injuries related to the sport. Senior linebacker Logan Blanks suffered a severe neck and spinal injury during a game on Saturday against Lakewood. According to the Keyport School District, Blanks does have feeling, movement and sensation in his limbs, but his recovery is expected to be long.
Blanks is the second Monmouth County teen to suffer a spinal cord injury in recent weeks while playing football. Aaron Van Trease, a senior from Saint John Vianney High School in Holmdel, underwent surgery for broken vertebrae he sustained during a September game and remains in hospital. Just two days prior, 16-year-old Linden High School sophomore Xavier McClain died nearly two weeks after suffering a critical head injury during a game. A fourth high school football player from Rahway died in his sleep in early September, but it hasn’t been linked to football and a cause of death hasn’t been provided.
