Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
For Nick Mayhugh, soccer has been a lifesaver. The Radford University player has overcome a major health problem to become a part of Team USA.
Nick Mayhugh is a senior soccer player at Radford University and a member of the USA Paralympic Team.
He always noticed something was off with the left side of his body, so he worked even harder to use just his right side, especially on the soccer field.
“I never wanted to be looked at different or treated different because my norm was different. I remember being in my room and spending hours trying to teach myself how to tie my shoes with both hands, teaching myself to walk without a limp and even getting dressed without falling over. Going into middle school, I made a decision to not tell anybody and to keep it to myself,” Mayhugh said.
He initially told his parents and his doctor, but nobody thought anything was wrong, because he was so active.
The problem made him work even harder.
“I used to leave practices crying because I couldn’t use my left foot as well as I could my right, I couldn’t really feel it. I think my self-awareness played a huge part of why I am in the position I am in today. I spent countless hours after practice working extra, or at home with my brother working on my left foot and doing cone drills to make myself better technically.”
He continued to work hard at the game he loved and nothing was going to stop him from playing at a higher level. But in 2010, as an ninth grader, he suffered a grand mal seizure.
“I’ll never forget the first words my doctor spoke, I interrupted her and asked when I could play soccer again and she said she didn’t think I would ever be able to play soccer again. She initially thought I had a brain tumor. I remember seeing the life get sucked out of my mom when she heard those words, but I knew that couldn’t be true. It had to have been something else,” Mayhugh said.
The family got a second opinion, but it still wasn’t the message they wanted to hear.
Mayhugh was told he a very unique situation that medical personnel had not seen before. A MRI showed a grey circle on the right side of his brain called a “dead spot”.
Doctors said it was the result of a stroke in utero (before birth) or shortly after birth. Then they started to connect the dots.
“The dead spot was just an inactive part of my brain and it made sense as to why I couldn’t really feel my left side, my arm, fingers, my leg and my foot, everything, all the nerves and pathways were inactive. I had finally had an answer for everything, and my parents finally believed me and understood why I complained and said everything I did growing up. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, a big sigh of relief, because they finally believed me,” he said.
Doctors told him he would never play soccer ever again, but he was determined to continue the game he loved. He took the field on a youth team of the D.C United Soccer Academy, and soccer seemed to be the only way he could prove to the world he was not different. After some coaxing of the coaching staff at Radford University, he walked on to the men’s team.
“The game itself taught me structure,” Mayhugh said. “If I didn’t play soccer, I really don’t know what I would be doing today. It’s what I was meant to do, I thoroughly believe that, and I will continue to play for as long as my body will let me.”
Because of his medical condition, he was invited to the U.S. Paralympic team camp last year as one of 14 players and has been working with the team the past few weeks in Florida. The team consists of players with neurological conditions.
Representing his country, according to Mayhugh, in international play is an indescribable feeling.
“I think it’s something every kid growing up playing their respected sport dreams of. To be given the opportunity to actually fulfill my dream of wearing the crest and play the sport I love is something few athletes get the chance to do, I will never take it for granted,” he said.
Unfortunately, soccer was taken out of the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020. The team will compete in the Copa America tournament this October in Natal, Brazil and will compete in the World Cup in 2019 in Spain, along with the Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru in 2019.
In the meantime, he is on track to graduate from RU in December with a degree in Human and Health Performance with a focus on Strength and Conditioning. He will also have one final season with the Radford University men’s team.
He used to shrug off people who told him he was an example for others to look up to.
“But it all sort of hit me when I got my first email from a fan of the USPNT. He told me he saw a video about me, read an article and watched me play. He said he really looked up to me along with some really nice words, and that was the first time I sat back and thought, wow. I understand I am an example for kids and others, and I fully intend to be best example possible to positively affect others in any way I can,” he concluded.
Mayhugh will not only carry the uniform of the U.S.A. later this year, but also Radford University, now he has others wondering if they can beat the odds and do something that they’ve been told they cannot do.
“Never give up and believe in yourself. The mind is so powerful. I knew something was wrong, and I knew it would come out medically sooner or later,” he said. “I remember being made fun of for how I ran, and how bad my left foot was. I finally decided to ignore everybody making fun of me, to let people talk, and to put my head down and play my game, because I believed in my abilities, my mindset.”