Michigan High School Football Player Seriously Injured Following Disturbing Act

Youth left with fractured spine after opponent slams his body on him during football game

A Lakeshore JV football player sustained a fractured spine when a Kalamazoo player slammed his body weight on him. / Lakeshore Football

A Michigan high school football player was left with a fractured spine after a senseless play by his opponent recently.

During a junior varsity game between Kalamazoo Central and Lakeshore, a player from Kalamazoo Central was filmed slamming the entire weight of his body on a fallen player from Lakeshore, who has since been identified as Colton Mims.

According to a report out of Michigan by WSBT 22, the Lakeshore student-athlete has suffered multiple spine fractures and may never be able to play football again because of the incident.

Courtney Mims, the mother of the Lakeshore player, told the New York Post that she has “never felt anything like it.

“I’ve never been as upset or shaken up as I was over something for my son,” she said. “These boys are high school boys. They’re 15 years old. The game means a lot to them. It’s their whole life right now. For somebody to try to take that from somebody doing so much is awful for me to see.”

The incident happened well away from the play and saw the Kalamazoo Central student-athlete land twice on the fallen player from Lakeshore. 

Kalamazoo Central High School posted on social media that “we hold our student-athletes to high standards of sportsmanship, respect and integrity on and off the field.

“An incident that occurred during the recent JV football game does not represent our football program, our coaching staff or the values of our school community. This was the action of an individual student who made a poor choice, acting on a social media video not connected to our team ro coaches.”

The school stated that the student in question has received “consequences consistent with the Kalamazoo Public Schools Student Code of Condut and in compliance with MHSAA regulations.”