PEA RIDGE — Duncan Truesdell’s left arm dangled at his side as he walked off the field.
He tried to raise it, but his entire arm was numb from his shoulder down to his fingertips. His left shoulder drooped noticeably lower than the right.
“You know how it feels when your arm falls asleep?” Truesdell recalled. “Multiply that by about 10. It was numb but tingled and really burned.”
Pea Ridge football coach Stephen Neal said he knew immediately that Truesdell had suffered a “stinger,” but he had no idea the extent of the nerve injury.
“I saw him coming off the field, and he was hanging his shoulder off on one side,” Neal said. “Being an old linebacker from back in the day, I understood what that was. He had a stinger, which is a pinched nerve in your neck or shoulder. You can’t move your arm, it’s just completely numb — a painful numb.”
Both Neal and Truesdell hoped the numbness would subside quickly and he’d be able to return to the field again after a few plays. Truesdell had suffered a similar injury earlier in the season on his right side and was able to get back on the field.
“Most of the time with those stingers, depending upon the severity of it, we can do some things; our trainer Jamie Mann can do some things and get them back on the field,” Neal said. “But he wasn’t able to get back on the field that night.
“So we checked him later that night and that weekend, and he still didn’t have any strength in that arm.”
The injury was diagnosed as a severe brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus are the nerves that run from the spine to the shoulders, arms and hands. Injuries can be as minor as a “stinger” or more severe if the nerves are crushed or severed. In some cases the injury can be permanent.
In Truesdell’s case, the injury is career-ending.
He said he remembers the tackle vividly in the first quarter against Shiloh Christian. He’s not sure which Saints player he tackled, but he remembers the hit.
“Early in the first quarter I’d taken a couple of hits and given a couple of hits,” Truesdell said. “I felt it hurt me through my neck and trap area. So with about a minute left in the first quarter, I made a tackle, and my entire left arm went numb. I had no movement in it. That’s when I realized it was time to stop playing.
“Basically it shut down all the muscle use in my left arm.”
Neal said often once a player suffers a nerve injury, they tend to happen again if the nerve is not completely healed.
“His is so severe that the doctors and our trainer, Jamie, and myself, as hard as it is to do, you have to pull him out and tell him he’s not going to be able to play again,” Neal said.
Truesdell and most of his senior teammates started playing together in elementary school. He has started at linebacker the past two seasons and this year was also starting at tight end.
In nine games, he was among the team leaders in tackles with 63, including seven for loss. He also had an interception. On offense, his blocking on the edge helped the Blackhawks rush for more than 2,500 yards this season.
Last Friday night, Truesdell stood on the sideline at Nashville as the Blackhawks (11-1) earned the biggest win in program history by knocking off the defending Class 4A state champion Scrappers on the road 53-28.
“It’s one of those deals where a young man has worked so hard and he’s coming into his senior year with all those teammates he’s played with since the third grade and we make it to the playoffs and we go through the first round, then we have an upset and a big win for our community in the second round against Nashville,” Neal said, “and even though he’s still a part of it, knowing these young competitors, he probably doesn’t feel like he’s a part of it.”
Truesdell said his teammates have been supportive of him and offer words of encouragement.
He was more than just a spectator last Friday night. He helped coach the Blackhawks’ linebackers as Pea Ridge held Class 4A’s most potent offense in check. Still, not being on the field has been hard, Truesdell said.
“It’s tough. It’s definitely tough,” he said. “I want to be out there with them. I want to play with them; I want to win with them obviously, but all I can do now is support them.
“It was awesome to see them get that win. But it was awful actually to not be able to be a part of it and not to be on the field making a difference. It’s just hard.”
Truesdell said the nerve injury could take several months to heal before he can start physical therapy. Until then, he will continue his role as a student-coach, trying to help Pea Ridge earn the program’s first trip to the state championship game.
The Blackhawks will host Hamburg at 7 p.m. Friday in a third-round game.
At A Glance
Duncan Truesdell
SCHOOL Pea Ridge CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 5-11
WEIGHT 200
POSITION Linebacker/tight end NOTABLE Was among the team leaders in tackles with 63 and had 7.0 tackles for loss in nine games before suffering season-ending injury. … A two-year starter at linebacker. … Also started at tight end. … Plans to attend UCA and become a high school or college sports trainer.
Chip Souza can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter@NWAChip.