High school football preview 2022: Cloverleaf's Will Jerome back to 100 percent after scary car wreck

Cloverleaf wide receiver/safety Will Jerome will never forget Nov. 4, 2021, even though he can't remember parts of it. Football season had recently ended, school had let out for the day and Will, now a senior, was driving home in his Chevrolet Suburban. His sister Kate, now a junior, was in the front passenger seat talking on her cell phone. Will remembers turning onto Kennard Road, where his family lives. He does not remember swerving slightly right, overcorrecting to the left, going off the road and striking a tree. While being transported via Life Flight to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a severe concussion and kidney fluid issues, Will started regaining consciousness. "I was in and out," the 17-year-old said. "I remember the noise of the helicopter, the paramedic asking me to remember a number and asking if my sister was OK." Kate, who broke her left thumb, left femur and three bones in her left foot — she now has a rod in her leg — in addition to suffering a mild concussion, remembers the accident but doesn't go into much detail when discussing it with her brother. "We don't really like to talk about it," Will said. "I went to therapy for it, and Kate doesn't want me hearing about anything. She remembers it, but doesn't want me to. She's a good sister and doesn't tell me about it." After being released from different hospitals, Will missed a month and a half of school and Kate, an award-winning equestrian, missed two months. They spent much of that time in the family living room, Will laying on the couch and Kate on the floor. "People think being stuck in a room with your brother for a month would be awful, but it really wasn't," 16-year-old Kate said. "We left each other alone when we needed to. "We've probably changed for the better, actually," she added. "We have a stronger relationship now." As much as he struggled to get over his concussion, the soft-spoken Will recalls that time with his sister fondly because it helped them develop a deeper bond. "We spent a month in the same room," he said. "We were just laying there. We talked about everything." As for the accident itself, Kate is confident her brother was going at least 5 mph under the 55-mph speed limit. While not paying 100% attention because she was on her phone, she recalls him veering slightly off the road to the right, which she thinks was caused by hitting a bump, then overcorrecting and going off the road to the left. "I know there are bumps on that road, and sometimes that throws you off," she said. "We swerved off the road a tiny bit, but he wasn't doing anything wrong. We just overcorrected. "I knew what was going on, but I blacked out twice. I remember hitting the tree, then I blacked out and we were in a ditch. Then I got in the ambulance and they told me I blacked out again." In the immediate aftermath of the crash, which totaled the Suburban, Will received hundreds of text messages. "I remember my phone was blowing up in the hospital," he said. "Everyone thought I was in way worse shape than I was. "I eventually saw pictures of the accident and it looked really, really bad. My mom (Tamera) said there was an angel there. Everyone says we were really lucky." Will's toughest battles were dealing with the guilt surrounding Kate's injuries and overcoming his concussion. His sister helped greatly with the first. "I know he felt really, really bad," Kate said. "I told him multiple times it really didn't affect me that much. I really didn't have any trauma and I'm fine physically now. He really didn't do anything wrong." Getting over the concussion required therapy and patience, with Kate remembering the times her brother would leave his room, turn off every light in the house and then return to his room without saying a word. "It was very frustrating," Will said. "It was a bad concussion, so I didn't know if I was going to be able to come back (to football). I was very woozy and I couldn't talk that well. That was very frustrating. Everything was way more difficult." Finally, in late February, after having way too much time to think about his athletic future, the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Will was medically cleared to resume all physical activity. Eager to do something, anything, he decided to go out for track — Cloverleaf football coach Justin Vorhies also coaches that sport — and ended up running the 400 meters and on the 4x4 relay. "Being back in a competitive environment felt really good," Will said. "It felt good to be doing something again." As his senior football season begins, Will is eager to build off a solid junior year that saw him finish with 53 tackles — 38 in the last five games — and three interceptions, which helped him earn second-team All-Metro Athletic Conference honors. Now the team's top receiver as well, he should greatly improve upon his 13 catches for 212 yards and three touchdowns last season, but he's not looking too far ahead or taking anything for granted. Will is reminded not to do that every day when he drives past the scene of his accident while going to and from school. "At first it was tough," he said of the trip down Kennard Road. "Now it's like, 'You didn't get me this time.' I enjoy passing it. "Life is very fragile," he added. "The accident gave me that view." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.