BOUNTIFUL, Utah — The Utah high school football community is rallying to help support a teenager who is fighting for his life after a major injury he suffered in a game two weeks ago.
Putting rivalries aside and showing their support, people and communities came together to show Jalen Sutton, a player on the Alta football team, that he isn’t alone on his road to recovery after a devastating injury.
“It’s been heartbreaking, but it’s also been inspiring,” said Tyson Forbes, a close friend of the family.
Jalen was about to turn 18 years old when he injured his spinal cord during a football game on Aug. 25. He has been in the hospital undergoing surgeries and procedures since then.
Forbes said Jalen is getting better, slowly, but surely.
“He’s in rehab today [Friday], moved out of the ICU, which is a huge milestone, and the family is very excited for that to start getting him back on normalcy and on the road to recovery," he said.
The community has been coming together in so many ways to show their support.
“The GoFundMe has seen a lot of good success, we’ve had a lot of support from the team family, parents and families volunteering time, t-shirts, bracelets, and everything, the little league guys are wearing number 22 at the back of their helmets," Forbes said. "It’s been overwhelming."
At Friday night’s game between the Alta Hawks and Davis Darts, Davis High put up the QR code for Jalen’s GoFundMe on the stands and had a halftime shout-out for the player. The announcer shared Jalen’s story, then encouraged people to donate and cheer for Jalen.
One of Jalen’s coaches said this kind of community support is what playing the sport is all about.
“There’s a lot of love for the Alta community and Jalen as well. You never know how much a difference a kid makes in your life until you see something like this go down,” said Setima Malieitulua, a football coach at Alta High School. “You know, it’s unfortunate the way it happened, but we love Jalen and it’s great to see the community back him in a time like this.”
Forbes said Jalen’s parents have a message for everyone who has helped, prayed, rallied or been a part of this journey:
“They want to put a big thank you out to all the people across the community and the nation that have put out support for Jalen.”
Anyone who wants to donate to the GoFundMe to help his family pay for his treatment can do so here.
