Football standout faces long recovery after neck surgery
By Bob Sofaly and Mike McCombs
The Island News
A New Year’s Day car crash on St. Helena Island has left a Beaufort High School sophomore hospitalized and facing a long recovery.
According to Lance Cpl. Nick Pye of the S.C. Highway Patrol, Jayden Simmons was seriously injured and taken to “a local medical facility” after the 2016 Jeep sport utility vehicle he was driving north on U.S. 21 veered into a ditch and overturned at about 12:48 p.m.
Pye said Simmons, a standout football player for the Eagles, was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
No charges have been filed, and the case is still under investigation, Pye said.
The crash took out a fire hydrant beside the ditch. The Jeep appeared to have come back onto the highway before coming to rest in a private driveway. The engine was separated from the vehicle and laying on the ground nearby.
Nothbound traffic was re-routed down Seaside Road after it had backed up significantly.
According to a Facebook post by Brian Simmons, Jayden’s father, the teen was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, where he underwent emergency Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) surgery for 3 fractured discs in his neck.
“He’s alive and well! Thank you Lord!!!” Brian Simmons said in his Facebook post. “No paralysis, no broken bones, no brain damage, just a long 8-14 week recovery.”
As of press time, The Island News had been unsuccessful at reaching Brian Simmons for comment. Brian Simmons did, however, set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for will likely be significant medical bills.
“With the cost of medical bills, post-recovery treatments, travel, etc., we’re gonna need your support!” Brian Simmons wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Thank you in advance.”
According to Spine-Health.com, “anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a type of neck surgery that involves removing a damaged disc to relieve spinal cord or nerve root pressure and alleviate corresponding pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling.”
According to the website, the surgery has 2 parts – the anterior cervical discectomy and the fusion.
In the anterior cervical discectomy, the surgery is approached through the front of the cervical spine (neck). The disc is then removed from between two vertebral bones. A fusion surgery is done at the same time as the discectomy operation in order to stabilize the cervical segment. A fusion involves placing bone graft and/or implants where the disc originally was in order to provide stability and strength to the area.
Among the well-known professional athletes who have undergone the surgery then returned to high-level competition are NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, golfer Tiger Woods, NFL quarterback Tony Romo, Major League Baseball player David Wright, and NHL legend Mario Lemieux.
It is unclear if the injury and surgery will limit Simmons’ future athletic participation, only that he faces a lengthy and significant recovery.
According to MaxPreps, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound sophomore, who wears No. 56, played in 12 games in 2023, recording 78 total tackles, 51 solo. He recorded 5 sacks, 9 quarterback hurries and an interception. Simmons won the Freshman Award on the 2022 Eagles team that won the 3A State Championship.
Jayden Simmons’ GoFundMe page can be found at https://gofund.me/524e8071.
Bob Sofaly has been photographing people and what they do in Beaufort since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. He can be reached at bobsofaly@gmail.com.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
