The St. Vincent Sports Medicine’s “Spirit of Sport” Athletic Recognition Dinner 2008 to be held July 13 will be covered in full by HoosierAuthority.com. To get your emotional juices flowing, we will bring you each day this week a nomination for the Creativity – Comeback Athlete of the Year Award.

This winner will prove to be someone who has come back from a setback to accomplish his or her personal best in a particular sport. Tuesday’s nominee is Lawrence North football player Joe Moheban.

Joe Moheban
I have a football player that I believe deserves to get the St. Vincent Spirit of Sport Comeback Athlete of the Year Award. His name is Joe Moheban. He played quarterback for the Lawrence North junior varsity team. In the middle of the season, he came down with headaches and nausea. At first, we thought he may have been hit in a game and got the symptoms later, so he went in to be checked for a concussion but didn’t fit the criteria.

He continued to have headaches, then dizziness. He saw a different doctor and was treated for migraines. He continued to play football (with an OK from the doctors), and he continued to fight the pain and other symptoms. He never complained. After multiple doctor visits and trips to three different emergency rooms, he finally ended up at St. Vincent Children’s Hospital and underwent brain surgery.

Joe had a tumor on the right side of his brain that could not be removed, so they would just drain it. He was in the hospital for, I believe, five days. He lost a tremendous amount of weight and strength. When he got back on his feet, he went out for the track team (he had not been on the team in prior years). He ran distance and is now in great shape and ready for the upcoming football season.

This is a great kid who has worked very hard through a very difficult situation.