Gunter rallying behind injured teammate

GUNTER, Texas (KXII) -Kaden Rigsby was having a standout season for the Gunter Tigers until a broken leg cut short his senior campaign.

”First thought wasn’t the pain, it was just I knew I would be out their with my brothers,” said Kaden Rigsby, Gunter linebacker.

”It was awful. We all knew that it was a season ending injury,” said fellow linebacker, Adam Reed. “It was just a terrible feeling.”

”He’s basically the heart beat of our team,” said Gunter head coach Jake Fieszel. “He was an emotional on the field leader for us.”

With one of the team’s leaders now sidelined, the Tigers and the Gunter community quickly rallied behind Kaden to show their support.

”The way it hit me was just how much they loved on me and showed that I cared in their community,” said Kaden. “It showed that anything I did, it was for this community and they gave it back.”

”You know KK is just a tremendous person,” said Fieszel. “He’s a great teammate. He’s a guy that it extremely relatable and the community sees all those things. They want him to obviously get well soon.”

The team even dawned helmet stickers as a tribute to Kaden.

” I don’t mind it. I love it actually,” said Kaden. “I love seeing it everyday. It shows that this is a team and if one goes down, they still carry them back. It’s heartwarming and I’ll never forget this team for the rest of my life.”

Kaden may now longer be able to make plays on the field, but knows he can still have an impact on the sidelines.

”He showed up to practice the next week,” said Reed. “He was on the sideline cheering us on.”

”Really giving the support and being the coach for the players I guess you could say,” said Kaden. “I just be on there making sure that the team’s still there and keep the glue together.”

”To go through surgery and to still come out here and support his teammates, find ways to lead, be a leader on the sideline, be a leader in the locker room,” said Fieszel. “That’s a testament to who he is as a person.”

”Like I said, I’ll never forget this community for the rest of my life,” Kaden said. “This is home.”\

Kaden is on track to be ready to return for the spring baseball season.

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