Berthold athlete makes strides in recovery
Challenges bring new life perspective
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BERTHOLD - A year after sustaining a crippling injury in a high school football game, 17-year-old Martin Heberlie is making impressive gains in what remains to be an extended recovery process.
The 11th grader at Berthold High School is focused on his abilities rather than disabilities as he enjoys hunting, fishing, trapshooting and participating in Prairie Grit sled hockey, 4-H and FFA, and cheering on the Bombers football team as it starts another season.
"I am seeing a little bit of improvement all the time," Heberlie said. "There’s always improvements, even little things and big things."
According to the medical professionals at Mayo Clinic, where he has undergone therapy, he has a very high chance to eventually fully recover, said his mother, Jana Hennessy.
It was during the Harvest Bowl, the second game of the season on Aug. 26, 2022, that Heberlie was injured chasing down a kickoff return.
"I went and dived for the ball because it had landed right in front of my feet," he said. "As I was diving for it, I remember getting hit in the chest and in the helmet and I folded backwards and I just remember not being able to get up."
His mother remembers the game wasn't going in Berthold's favor and her attention had drifted to conversation with others in the crowd when she noticed the pause due to a player on the ground.
"I remember just kind of sitting there and thinking, 'Who is it?'" she said. "Then I noticed his cleats. So I went over there, and that's when he was saying that he is in terrible pain and he couldn't move anything from waist down."
She rode with her son in the ambulance to Trinity Hospital in Minot while her husband, Jim, and daughter followed. Heberlie underwent diagnostic tests and remained at Trinity for a week before transfer by ambulance to Sanford in Fargo.
The injury was difficult to define. The conclusion was that he likely had SCIWORA, which stands for spinal cord injury without radiology abnormalities, Jana Hennessy said.
"They can't quite detect where the injury is so they can't see it, but it doesn't mean it's not there," she said.
In Fargo, Heberlie underwent extensive occupational and physical therapy. After a week in Fargo, Heberlie returned home and underwent pool therapy and daily physical therapy in Minot until January. He also had medical appointments in Grand Forks, Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minnesota, and was making progress.
For three weeks in January and another week this summer, he had therapy at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he made significant gains, including recovering an ability to walk unaided. It freed him from needing a wheelchair.
"You can see the hope, and from there, it was awesome," Hennessy said.
Heberlie continued with his sports interests even during this time, trapshooting from a wheelchair until able to stand again, and qualified for a national trap meet in Michigan. He took up basketball and sled hockey with Prairie Grit.
Paul Rudolph, dean of students and football coach at Berthold School, said Heberlie has made an impression with his mental toughness and how hard he works.
"He just came back and he battled every day, so he's just been an inspiration for all of us, students included, as we watch that," he said. "He's going to take care of his business. Whether it be academics or his farm work or his trapshooting or anything like that, he's going to take care of his business."
Heberlie's current therapy is lifting weights and doing daily activities, such as helping out on the farm. He also checks in regularly with Mayo Clinic.
"They are strong believers that he can include the therapy during his regular day so he doesn't miss out so much on school, too. His therapy can be riding a horse or trying to work on fixing a car," Hennessy said. "So that's what we are doing. And it's working."
Hennessy said her son's teachers and friends have been amazing through this process in supporting him and helping him keep up with his schoolwork. Bismarck native Carson Wentz, who has played seven seasons in the National Football League, also had contacted him to offer encouragement.
Heberlie has dealt with fear, frustration, confusion and a variety of other emotions as he has navigated a challenging journey. His injury has put limits on what he can do, and he acknowledges the emotions that come with that.
"It affects me a lot, but it also opens your mind up to what other people have to face and deal with," he said. "It really gives you a perspective of what not only you are going through but what other people have to go through and what they have to face. So, I guess I am thankful that I was able to do these things before, and I’m optimistic about what might happen in the future."
Last November, the Mandan school invited Heberlie to speak to its seventh and eighth graders.
"They all enjoyed it very much. It was just an amazing feeling to have and an amazing accomplishment to have," he said. "It's probably something that helped me through my injury a lot, too, being able to speak to so many kids like that.
"It's something I'd love to do again," Heberlie said of public speaking.
In the months since talking to the Mandan students, Heberlie said, he has gained even more insight, not only about his injury but about life. He no longer takes so much for granted. He focuses more on what he can do and accomplish. He doesn't place blame on his injury because life is about what you make it and working around trials, he said.
"I know that there’s a lot of hard, depressing times that I’ve gone through and still I’m going through. But in all reality, it’s how you can make your life worth living - as long as you’re living how you want to live, with your morals and values and what you want to do in life," he said.
"In my opinion, that’s how you can live successfully and how you can do anything you want and how you can be happy in life," he added. "As long as you’re doing what you want to do and you can see past all the hard things that you’re going to go through and all the hardships you’re going to face and deal with it, and as long as you know in the end that you can push through it and and make it past that, then I’m pretty sure you can live a long, happy life."