Pickerington Central rising senior and Animal Management student, Juell Scott, is a prime example of grit and resilience after a bad sports injury and will to get back to competing at a high level.
Juell Scott, a rising senior from Pickerington High School Central and a student in Eastland-Fairfield’s Animal Management program, knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity.
Last fall during football practice, the running back took a hit that changed the course of his high school athletic career. The tackle was so disruptive that it left Juell with a puncture to his small intestine in two places as well as a ruptured adrenal gland and internal bleeding that required immediate emergency surgery. The surgery required the removal of his gastric organs to repair them before they were placed back in his body. He spent five days in the hospital with an NG tube and a total of eight days in the hospital. He was not permitted to eat or drink anything for five days where he lost a total of 13 pounds. Doctors and nurses told him it would be at least 12 weeks before he’d return to sports, and even then, it would be in a limited capacity. It appeared that his football season, and maybe more, were done.
Juell was bound and determined to blow that timeline out of the water and get back to football. He asked what he needed to do to get out of the hospital ahead of schedule. The response: walk down the hallway and continue walking on your own.
Within a week of surgery and only days after his gastric organs began working again, he walked down the hallway. Then he began to walk further and more frequently. He denied pain medication after two days and turned his planned 14-day hospital stay into an eight-day stay. He just wanted to get back to being himself. That would be his motivation and goal: get back to normal.
From there there was nowhere to go but up, but it didn’t come without its challenges. Two weeks post-surgery, he ran down his street for the first time, and four weeks later, he was cleared to return to football. Juell played in the final two games of the season, running for 45 yards on the first play of his return to the field in a junior varsity game.
When the seasons changed and he transitioned to indoor track, a new reality set in. Juell, a sprinter for the Tigers’ track & field team, said he was getting beaten by people who had never beaten him before.
His dad, Jay, said Juell had a complete breakdown one day saying he wanted to quit track and that he would never be the same.
“It’s hard to help your child in a moment like that. It was the absolute hardest time in my life as a parent. All you can do is be there for them and tell them to trust the process. I just kept telling him, ‘you’re going to be an inspiration to someone.’ Sure enough, I watched him climb out of that rut and bounce back to be better than what he ever was.
“There were a lot of people saying I couldn’t do this,” said Juell. “That was my advantage and my fuel. It made me want it more, which made me better.”
No one thought he would advance beyond the regional championships, but by the time outdoor track season rolled around, he certainly proved them wrong.
Along the way, Juell achieved a personal record of 48.5 seconds in the 400-meter dash, dropping more than two seconds from his previous best time. Not only did he advance to regionals, but he went on to compete at the state track & field championships. He ran the second leg of the 4x200-meter relay race and in the finals, Juell and his team became state champions behind a time of 1:25.59, their best time of the season and one full second faster than their qualifying heat.
Similarly, at the end of June, Juell competed in an AAU track meet where he qualified for the Junior Olympic Nationals in the 400 meters, 4x100-meter relay, and 4x400-meter relay. The national meet is scheduled for the end of July in North Carolina.
Juell’s advice for someone facing hardship?
“Keep a lot of people in your corner and don’t be afraid of pain or not being in the same place you once were. An injury like this can definitely make you better and teach you a lot about yourself. It made me better as a person; I think about life from a different perspective and will never take sports, family, or God for granted again.”
He said he’s excited for next year. “I have a lot more to prove.”
As for his Eastland-Fairfield family, he said they were an extra support system throughout his recovery. He chose the Animal Management program after meeting the teacher, Ms. Johnson, in sophomore rotation. He knows career tech is better for him and his future and dreams of going into business or becoming a vet tech after graduating.