In a split second, a suspected drunk driver changed Hermleigh’s Brenson Halford’s life forever.
Brenson Halford said, “So me and my friend were just going to a Tech game, he’s a really big Tech fan so me and him went. We were leaving and we went to see some buddies at 4Golf before we left Lubbock and that’s really the last thing I remember is leaving 4Golf. I got knocked out in the collision so I don’t remember much. But, yeah we were leaving 4Golf and I told him to buckle up, got in the wreck and the only thing I remember after that is the firefighters getting me out of the truck.”
Brenson and his friend were supposed to have a fun weekend in Lubbock, Texas. They never would’ve thought something like this was going to happen.
Hermleigh Athletic Director Sammy Winters said, “When I went and visited him in the ICU, I was there maybe about five minutes he said ‘Coach I love you but I hurt so bad I gotta go to sleep’. That breaks your heart because that’s not who he is.”
Halford added, “So he hit me head-on and what happened was, when he hit me, my window busted. I rolled and my elbow goes out of the window and hits the pavement and then roll back on our tires. My back, I have a back brace on. I shattered my vertebrae. So I had to put a spacer in there, and added like a fusion I think on my L4 vertebrae maybe and then I fractured two others. Oh, then I lost like all four of my front teeth.”
He now goes to physical therapy three times a week to get back to as much of a normal life as possible.
Halford said, “So, first of all with the elbow I’m just working on getting a full range of motion. Right now it gets stuck to about right there, and then it gets to about 90 degrees. So I’m just working to where I can get back to normal and then with my back I’m working on getting rid of the back brace. So I’m just working on endurance with having it off. Walking around, sitting up, just normal things. Getting back to being normal I guess if that’s the right way to put it.”
Brenson played a full season of football and full season of basketball but missed the playoffs due to the wreck. He’s the water boy for the softball team and tries to make every game he can for as long as he can be out there.
Brenson said, “I just try to make the best of things, and it’s good for me to be out. Not being in bed just laying around all day.”
He’s a walking miracle, running miracle now. What’s next for Halford? He’ll graduate next month and go to college at South Plains with a new set of wheels from a car dealership in Lamesa.
