Taft sophomore Stephen Carrera’s life changed in an instant over the Fourth of July holiday.
“I was trying to light a firework and it didn’t light,” he said. “So when I tried lighting it one more time, it just blew up in my hand. ... I didn’t feel anything because I was in such shock. Me looking at my hand, the first thing I thought was, ‘Wow, am I ever gonna play football again?’”
That was an open question for others as well,
Taft coach Zach Elder headed to the scene as soon as he heard the news. By the time he arrived, Carrrera had already left in an ambulance.
“A couple kids on the team were there and they’re like, ‘His whole hand’s gone,’” Elder said. “So we had no idea what’s going on. So yeah, there was a real question mark.”
But then a few days later, Elder went to visit Carrera in the hospital. The news was less grim; though the middle and index fingers of his right hand would have to be amputated, Carrera’s hand was spared.
It was still a devastating injury. But you wouldn’t have known it from talking to Carrera.
“He’s the only kid who was [able to be] upbeat about it,” Elder said. “If I lost two fingers, I wouldn’t be talking to anyone. This kid’s watching movies and telling jokes. I think it just says a lot about the person he is, the character he has. He’s got a tremendous, upbeat personality and he’s vibrant. He took what I think everyone would see as a [negative] and tried to put as positive a spin as he could.”
The injury put Carrera’s season on hold while he adjusted to his new life, including — as a natural righty — learning how to write with his left hand (he is starting to write right-handed again too).
As the third in a line of brothers who came through the Taft program and someone who had played football since kindergarten, the idea of giving up the sport he loved was hard to take.
Initially, Carrera said, “I thought my chance of coming back to football was zero. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play ever again. But just seeing how young I am — and since I’m young, I heal better and faster.”
So he started working about four weeks after the accident. At summer camp, Carrera practiced with the Eagles, doing non-contact work including conditioning and agility drills.
“When they did contact, I’d just go on the side and do more agility to get myself better,” he said.
Through it all, his teammates had his back.
“They kept pushing me through everything and just comforting me after this injury,” Carrera said. “I wouldn’t be able to do all this without them.”
Finally, Carrera was cleared to return to action for Week 6 this season as part of a running back-by-committee approach. In his second game back, Carrera had 13 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Clark.
“He’s been a nice little spark in the backfield of late,” Elder said. “He runs hard, he’s tough as hell, clearly. ... Every time he gets the ball, he’s making the most of it.”
An 0-5 start peppered with close losses dashed Taft’s hopes for an IHSA playoff berth. But by finishing third in the Red North, the Eagles qualified for the Prep Bowl playoffs. They open the postseason by playing Brooks at Lane on Thursday.
Carrera is glad for whatever action comes his way now that he’s seen how easily football could be taken away from him.
“Me coming back [after] having this injury ... anything is possible,” he said.
