Courtesy of Weston McGuire

Post surgery, junior Weston McGuire prepares for practicing patience rather than baseball the next few weeks as he recovers from facial surgery. Doctors went through his eye to place a metal plate to aid in the regrowth of his orbital bone that was shattered when he was struck in the face by a baseball. “It didn’t hurt very much by the time surgery came a week later, I was just very uncomfortable and I just wanted to get it over with. I want to miss out on as little baseball as possible,” McGuire said.

Warming up for a morning baseball practice, junior Weston McGuire tossed a ball back and forth with his teammates. As he looked upward, glove ready to catch the incoming ball, it was suddenly lost in the air and came down on his face.

“I got hit and I remember I fell to the turf. My vision went black for a little bit but I don’t know how long, and I remember seeing blood drip to the turf and then the coaches came over and helped me up,” McGuire said. “We knew my nose was broken because it was really crooked wouldn’t stop bleeding and then [the coaches] called my dad.”

McGuire was taken to the emergency room where he was given a computerized tomography (CT) scan. Doctors discovered multiple fractures, but fortunately there were no permanent injuries to his brain or vision.

“My orbital bone under my eye was shattered and was pushed back half a centimeter too far and then my nose right in between my eyes was broken,” McGuire said. “The doctors said if the ball had been any further up I could be blind in my right eye.”

Two days later, McGuire went to a plastic surgeon with a focus in the cheek and eye. The specialist had performed similar surgeries many times before like what McGuire needed.

“If I didn’t have surgery I would be fine, but one part of my face would be flat and over time it would start to sag more because I wouldn’t have the bone to hold it up, and it would look like I had a stroke,” McGuire said. “Surgery came a week later. I wasn’t scared, I was just impatient and wanted to get it over with so I could get back to baseball.”

Surgery was successful, and despite bruising, swelling and scars, McGuire will make a full recovery.

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“I have a metal plate but the bone isn’t healed yet,” McGuire said. “It’s just a waiting game right now, and I have drops to put in my eyes to help the swelling go down so I’m just waiting for everything to fully settle.”

Until then, McGuire found motivation to get back to his normal activities.

“Each day I’ve become more functional and my routine is more or less the same. For awhile I couldn’t do anything physical with weight or anything with objects flying through the air to prevent risk,” McGuire said. “I couldn’t wait to get back to baseball and hopefully I don’t have to miss too much more.”

McGuire strived to persevere through his injury and remain positive in light of his setbacks.

“The hardest part was waiting and trying to miss as little as possible, but it’s just something that takes time,” McGuire said.

In light of his patience, McGuire was cleared to play baseball Feb. 20, and was back on the field the next day. As he returns the sports with no physical following his injury, the impact of what he endured will serve as a constant reminder.

“It was a crazy thing that happened, but I got through it and am looking forward to doing what I love,” McGuire said. “It’s really easy to feel invisible, but then you remember that a baseball that weighs five ounces broke my face.”