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WR Tyson Gentry (Official Thread)
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Alumni
- 356 Replies
Tyson Gentry Grateful As He Reflects on Life 20 Years After Ohio State Practice Injury That Left Him Paralyzed
Twenty years after he was paralyzed in an Ohio State practice, Tyson Gentry reflects on his life journey in his new book “Once A Buckeye…: A Story of Football, Family and Faith.”
Tyson Gentry Grateful As He Reflects on Life 20 Years After Ohio State Practice Injury That Left Him Paralyzed
Twenty years after suffering a life-changing injury during an Ohio State football practice, Tyson Gentry is grateful.
Gentry has been paralyzed from the neck down since suffering a spinal cord injury during a spring scrimmage at Ohio Stadium on April 14, 2006. The former walk-on wide receiver eventually regained use of his biceps, but remains unable to walk or move his fingers or wrists.
Despite that, Gentry has a thriving life. He runs the New Perspective Foundation, which assists others who have suffered spinal cord injuries. He serves on the board and was previously the president of the National Football Foundation’s Columbus Chapter. He shares his life journey through public speaking, and has authored four books, including his new autobiography “Once A Buckeye…: A Story of Football, Family and Faith,” which was published this week.
Most importantly, Gentry is a husband to his wife Megan and a father to his two sons, 10-year-old Adam and 8-year-old Ryan. And it’s because of them that Gentry says he’d still choose to play football at Ohio State all over again even if he knew how his career would unfold.
“I really would. If I was able to answer that question while knowing that I would say I end up where I'm at with my wife and our two sons, Adam and Ryan, undoubtedly yeah, because I don't want to know what my life would look like without them,” Gentry told Eleven Warriors. “My wife is my angel. She makes things so much easier on me and helps me carry a lot of the burdens that come with my injury. So having her by my side is amazing. And then to watch our two sons, who are 10 and 8 now, grow up and to kind of show them so many things that they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.”
In the immediate aftermath of his injury, Gentry questioned whether he’d ever have the opportunity to be a husband or a father. After undergoing fusion surgery three days after the injury, the pain was so intense that Gentry wished for death.
The following morning, however, Gentry’s parents showed him an inspirational note that told him to “Never give up, no matter how much adversity you face.” The note resonated with Gentry because he wrote it himself after a woman who suffered a spinal cord injury spoke to the Ohio State football team – eight months before his own injury – and asked them to write letters of encouragement to patients at Ohio State’s Dodd Hall, the same hospital where he’d soon undergo his own rehabilitation. Gentry took that as a sign from God, and it gave him the faith he needed to persevere.
“When I reached my lowest point and I was ready to give up, I honestly thought I was going to die. Just the amount of pain that I was in, I was ready to go, I was at peace with everything,” Gentry said. “And I woke up the next morning and realized that it's not the end of the road, and so just from that standpoint onward, my faith has increased.”
The coming months remained difficult for Gentry as he was told to “hurry up and wait” to see if he would regain more function in his arms and legs. But as he gradually came to accept that he would never be able to walk again or do many of the things that he loved to do before his injury, Gentry decided he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life dwelling on what he couldn’t do.
“I don't know that there was a specific point that I recall reaching that phase. But I do remember at some point coming to terms with the fact that like, OK, I obviously can't undo what happened, and I can't suddenly change my function and give myself hand movement or get up and walk or anything like that,” Gentry said. “So I think once I kind of realized like, ‘Hey, if this is what I have to work with moving forward, all I can do is make the best of it.’ Because the only alternative is to sit there and feel sorry for myself and spiral downward, and I didn't want that.”
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Cancer
- By ScriptOhio
- Open Discussion (Work-safe)
- 136 Replies
FWIW, anyone remember Ben Sasse? He was a US Senator from Nebraska and then President of the University of Florida. I ran into this article about him having terminal pancreatic cancer.
The former Republican senator and brief University of Florida president, 54, appeared on The New York Times' podcast with significant amounts of blood on his face, less than four months after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At the time, Sasse described the diagnosis as a "death sentence."
Speaking with podcast host and columnist Ross Douthat, Sasse got candid about his own mortality, and why he's chosen to speak out publicly in his remaining time.
"In mid-December I got a three- to four-month life expectancy, and I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas," Sasse shared. "But even at three to four months left to live, you have to redeem the time."
The father of three added, "There’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children," so he's happy to impart what he can to journalists willing to listen. He and wife Melissa share daughters Corrie and Alex, in their 20s, and son Breck, who was 14 at the time Sasse announced his diagnosis.
Sasse said he first noticed something was wrong in late October 2025. His preferred method of staying fit, he said, was sprint triathlons, and when he was training at that time, he realized he was experiencing much more back and abdominal pain than usual. At first, he thought he had just pulled a muscle.
By November 2025, the pain was severe enough that he decided to seek medical attention. His physician ran several tests that didn't reveal anything, so Sasse's doctor referred him to a gastroenterologist, believing the cause could be undiagnosed celiac or lactose intolerance.
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Some information on Pancreatic Cancer:
cancer.osu.edu
Former Sen. Ben Sasse, Bleeding from His Face, Shares Brutal Reality of Terminal Cancer at Age 54
Sasse was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in December 2025- With blood on his face, former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse sat down with The New York Times to open up about his painful experience with terminal cancer
- The father of three, 54, was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable pancreatic cancer in mid-December and said he learned his "torso is chock-full of tumors"
- A new drug he's been prescribed has greatly improved his condition, but it causes him to "bleed all out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn’t be bleeding" because his body can't properly grow new skin
The former Republican senator and brief University of Florida president, 54, appeared on The New York Times' podcast with significant amounts of blood on his face, less than four months after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At the time, Sasse described the diagnosis as a "death sentence."
Speaking with podcast host and columnist Ross Douthat, Sasse got candid about his own mortality, and why he's chosen to speak out publicly in his remaining time.
"In mid-December I got a three- to four-month life expectancy, and I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas," Sasse shared. "But even at three to four months left to live, you have to redeem the time."
The father of three added, "There’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children," so he's happy to impart what he can to journalists willing to listen. He and wife Melissa share daughters Corrie and Alex, in their 20s, and son Breck, who was 14 at the time Sasse announced his diagnosis.
Sasse said he first noticed something was wrong in late October 2025. His preferred method of staying fit, he said, was sprint triathlons, and when he was training at that time, he realized he was experiencing much more back and abdominal pain than usual. At first, he thought he had just pulled a muscle.
By November 2025, the pain was severe enough that he decided to seek medical attention. His physician ran several tests that didn't reveal anything, so Sasse's doctor referred him to a gastroenterologist, believing the cause could be undiagnosed celiac or lactose intolerance.
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continued
Some information on Pancreatic Cancer:
Pancreatic Cancer | OSUCCC – James
What is pancreatic cancer? Discover the symptoms and stages, as well as the treatments and research being pioneered at the OSUCCC – James.
cancer.osu.edu
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