DENTON, Texas — A kicker for the Guyer High School football team will be nailing field goals on the gridiron this season with just one eye after finding himself in the middle of a freak accident earlier this year.
In January 18-year-old Cole Schroeder told WFAA that he was with friends at a bonfire.
“It was just a hangout, and we were having a good time,” Schroeder said. But as he was saying goodbye to go home, someone threw a shotgun shell into the flames.
“I looked right down at the fire, and when I looked I saw a flash,” Schroeder said. “I felt something hit my eye, and I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until I noticed there was a lot of blood, so we went to the hospital.”
When the shell exploded, a pellet hit Schroeder’s right eye. “Ever since that moment, I’ve only been with one eye,” Schroeder said.
Doctors conducted several tests with Schroeder that did not go well. “They started doing like eye flashlight checks, and when I saw the look on his face when I told him I didn’t see anything—I kind of knew right then how bad it was,” Schroeder said.
After getting opinions from several doctors, it was decided that Schroeder’s right eye couldn’t be saved. He underwent a surgical enucleation, which is the removal of the eye while leaving the eye muscles and orbital contents intact.
Cody Schroeder, Cole’s father, and kicking coach feared the worst. “The fear was just knowing that he lost part of his vision,” Schroeder said. “We started to wonder how this would impact the rest of his life.”
Worries vanished, however, when Cole made an astounding recovery. He now wears an implant and a prosthetic that meshes with his eye muscles.
It’s barely noticeable, and when football season came around—he quickly proved to his coaches that he could still put it between the posts. Schroeder has kicked for the team the past two years. “I came out pretty lucky from this, really lucky,” Schroeder said. “I’m back to normal with everything and for other people, it’s not always like that.”
And Head Coach John Walsh said he wouldn’t hesitate to call on Schroeder to hit a field goal. “Cole’s that guy who’s carefree, and who doesn’t let failure or outside things bother him,” Walsh said.
“If it comes down to a game-winning field goal, I’m making the call if he’s got one good eye or two good eyes—I think he’s just as good.”
Schroeder is certainly moving forward with a new outlook on life, and he even admits his perception is even better now with one eye than it was with two. “It doesn’t really hold you back at all, it’s just a little thing that you have to live with,” Schroeder said.