DeFabo: Johnsburg wrestling celebrates Jarett Wolff's survival on emotional night

JOHNSBURG – Johnsburg athletic director Tom Ross put the microphone to his mouth, but said nothing.

“The Johnsburg wrestling coaches would like to present the Wolff Family with …”

Silence.

Tears welled in Ross’ eyes, as he looked onto the wrestling mat at Jarett Wolff, a 2014 graduate who wrestled and played football for the Skyhawks. Jarett’s mom, Kim, wiped tears from her own eyes, while his father, Bill, stood stoically nearby.

“A $400 Southwest gift card for a trip,” Ross finally said. “And $600 in cash.”

It wasn’t so much about the money or the trip that the Johnsburg wrestlers presented to the Wolff family Friday night between matches.

This was a celebration just because Jarett was there, walking onto the mat, smiling, thanking his former coaches, doing all the things that just a few months earlier looked impossible after a life-threatening car accident.

On Nov. 2, Jarett, 19, was riding in the passenger seat of Jose Martin’s car, with Dan Tysland and Anthony Kowalski in the back, eating White Castle after playing laser tag in Crystal Lake.

Bill heard a knock on his door and opened it, expecting to see his son. Instead, Martin’s father stood on his porch to tell him about an accident.

“My heart dropped to the ground,” Bill said.

The Dodge Neon was struck head on by another vehicle, driven by Michael E. Smith, 46, of Island Lake on River Road near Elmkirk Lane in unincorporated McHenry County, McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Thomas said. Smith, who had three previous DUI offenses at the time of the crash, is facing multiple felony charges, including aggravated driving under the influence without insurance.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Bill said. “That’s for sure. They were just kids being kids, playing laser tag.”

The collision fractured Jarett’s scull, eye socket, nose, cheek, and hip. As a result of traumatic brain trauma, his brain swelled severely.

It took paramedics 26 minutes to extract Jarett from the vehicle. He was rushed by ambulance to Centegra Northern Illinois Medical Center. Then, he was flown to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, during which he had to be resuscitated.

“They really didn’t think he was going to make it,” Kim said. “It’s your worst fear when you’re sitting in the emergency room at Condell with the chaplain for almost an hour not knowing if your son is dead.”

Kim lost her mom when she was 5 years old. Now, she thought she was about to lose her son. She looked to the sky, looking for an answer the science-minded doctors couldn't provide.

Though not devoutly religious before the accident, she prayed.

“Whoever did this him, I forgave him,” she prayed. “[The other driver] needs help. I have no anger or ill feeling toward him. Please, just help my son.”

The chaplain took Kim and Bill into the hospital room while the doctors stitched up his arm. Kim looked at her son’s black and blue eyes and swollen head.

Jarett was in the intensive care unit for 15 days in a medically induced coma. The doctors didn't know if he’d every be able to walk, talk or eat on his own.

Doctors asked him to shake their hand. He couldn’t. The doctors planned to send him to an acute care center.

Just 24 hours later, he made what Kim called a miraculous “400 percent” improvement. He wanted to walk. He was restless. He began responding to commands. After 18 days, he moved the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

And on Dec. 23, after 53 days, Jarett came home.

“We’re blessed. We have our miracle … He’s still here,” Kim said. “He’s the 1 percent chance that it’s not your worst nightmare and you do have a second chance.”

Looking at the T-shirts with “Play for Jarett” on the back, the 19-year-old said, “it means a lot” to see the community support.

Five days a week, he attends therapy at Centegra Neurorehabilitation in Crystal Lake.

His speech, memory and cognitive skills are still improving. The family is hopeful he will make a 100 percent recover, although there are no promises.

Jarett still hopes to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a marine.

“He’s wanted to do that since he was 7 and make a difference,” Kim said. “He’s my hero.”

• Sports reporter Mike DeFabo can be reached at mdefabo@shawmedia.com or on Twitter @MikeDeFabo.