By: Kelly Bradley
gwu-today.com Reporter
Logan Kudlinski had plans to enroll at Gardner-Webb last fall and play football. Today, he’s thankful to be alive and attending classes.
Kudlinski from Jacksonville, Florida transferred to Gardner-Webb from Lambuth University in Tennessee to play football. Ron Dickerson Sr., who used to be the head coach for Lambuth, and is now the assistant coach for the Runnin’ Bulldogs asked Kudlinski to follow him here from Lambuth University.
In August 2011, two weeks before Kudlinski was supposed to report to Gardner-Webb, he went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They were driving at night in Palatka, Florida when his friend did not see a turn coming. They hit a tree going 50 mph.
Kudlinski’s best friend of seven years left the scene assumingly to find help and later returned unsuccessful. It was decided to leave Kudlinski because they thought he was dead. When they called the 911 to report the accident, Kudlinski’s friend attempted to put the blame of the car crash on Kudlinski, so he and his friends would not be accused of crashing his mother’s car. They never mentioned that Kudlinski was still in the car unconscious.
When Kudlinski regained full consciousness, he climbed out the window of the car. It was still dark outside. He could feel a large pain in his upper chest and his knee had gone through the dashboard. The closest gas station to him was at least 20 miles away. He attempted to walk twice, but fell both times. The second time was when his leg completely gave out on him. When he fell, his ear ripped in half on the pavement. Bleeding out, he went unconscious on the side of the road.
He awoke to find his phone shining in his face from the sun. He called 911 and they told him to turn on his GPS so they could locate him. Kudlinski had to be airlifted to Shan Jacksonville Hospital. He was revived on the way.
“I can definitely say that God was looking after me that day shining my phone right in my face,” Kudlinski said. “My doctor said that if I had not called 911, a hunter would have found my body on the side of the road.”
Kudlinski had two shattered ribs, his femur went through his hip shattering his hip socket and he needed a chest tube. Kudlinski laid in traction for eight days until surgery. He was in the hospital for about a month.
Six months after the accident and still in recovery, Logan Kudlinski came to Gardner-Webb University for the spring semester. The doctor told him he would need about a year in physical therapy with two sessions a week. He’s paying for those sessions out of his own pocket. The doctors have said it is too early to tell if he will ever play football again. Even though Kudlinski is not able to play, Gardner-Webb is still honoring his football scholarship for this year and hopefully the rest of his time here at GWU.
“I don’t care how bad it hurts, unless it’s physically impossible for me to play I am going to play. I will do anything I can to help out with the team until I am able,” Kudlinski said.
Logan Kudlinski in front of the football field. Photo by: Amanda Smith
Logan Kudlinski in front of the football field. Photo by: Amanda Smith
