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The following story first appeared in Point of Vue Magazine’s March issue.
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Lunch recess has just ended at South Lafourche High School on a Wednesday afternoon.
Trevor Toups and his bud, Ty Allemand, are sitting across from the school’s front office – their backs leaning on the giant trophy case display that’s detailed the winning history of the Tarpons’ past.
Trevor has a slight smile on his face, which usually means he’s up to something.
In this case, he’s trying to play a joke on his friend.
“Smell my finger,” Trevor says to Ty, offering his index finger up to his buddy.
Ty doesn’t oblige, swatting the finger away with a quick jolt.
After the swat, the boys break into hysterics, and they remain in laughter as they start their walk back to class.
The whole “Smell my finger” bit is an inside joke between Trevor and Ty – a play off a scene in Scary Movie that the boys have grown fond of mimicking.
To the teens, it’s not a big deal – just boys being boys.
But to those who know the inside story of the history between Trevor and Ty, they’ll quickly see and appreciate how rich the boys’ bond actually is.
Truth is, it’s a bond that almost ended in tragedy during the 2015 football season.
Trevor is OK now, but he is the survivor of a severe brain injury which occurred during a practice in the 2015 season when he took a blow from Ty during a drill.
Through their shared role in the tragic event, the boys have grown closer, and are now practically best friends.
They’re partners on the Tarpons bowling team, and say that in a strange way, the accident has united them, because they share a piece of one another’s lives that no one else is a part of.
“He’s the brother I never had,” Trevor said of Ty. “We always clicked, but after everything that happened, we just got closer. I have his back and he has mine. We are united forever, because we always have this history.”
“Things happen in crazy ways sometimes,” Ty added. “But through this, I have a friend for life. I’m so glad he’s OK, and that he knows we’re in this together.”
THE INJURY – ‘IT WAS
SUPPOSED TO BE A
NORMAL DAY’
Trevor Toups remembers being at the dentist office on the morning of Sept. 29, 2015.
“It was a regular day,” he said. “I remember waking up, getting out of bed and being at that dentist appointment.”
Everything that happened after that is now gone from Trevor’s memory bank – likely forever. It can only be told by others who were with the young man when his life changed forever.
“The next thing I remember after the dentist was seeing a big, bright light, seeing machines hooked up all over me, then looking to my side and seeing my dad next to me,” Trevor said. “I didn’t know how I got there, but I knew something was seriously wrong.”
We can fill in some of those details.
Hours after that dentist appointment, Trevor had freshman football practice. During a practice drill, he took a hit from teammate Ty Allemand and went down.
Trevor was unresponsive, and Ty was an emotional wreck. A hit he made had injured one of his best friends.
“I was just saying to myself, ‘Oh my God, this can’t be happening,’” Ty said. “This has to be a joke. It hurt so bad to see him on the ground, not getting up.”
Trevor was rushed to Lady of the Sea General Hospital, where it was discovered that his brain was bleeding. He was airlifted to New Orleans, where he underwent emergency brain surgery. It was an operation, which, if unsuccessful, could have ended Trevor’s life.
Doctors feared after the surgery that Trevor would be hospitalized for months – if he ever got out at all.
They feared that the young man’s quality of life would be greatly altered, because no one was sure how Trevor’s brain would recover from the trauma it had endured.
But the doctors were wrong.
Through what Trevor and his family describe as a “living miracle” and “a sign of what prayer can do for people,” the young man returned home just days later – a development that literally left doctors in awe.
After months of recovery and then a follow-up operation, Trevor is as close to 100 percent as anyone ever expected him to be.
He said Ty was beside him for the whole thing, constantly checking in to make sure he was OK.
“He was always there,” Trevor said.
Today, Trevor is still every bit the jokester he was before the injury, and is also still a prosperous student. He said he wants to be a nurse when he gets older.
His reason?
“I want to help people who were in the same position that I was in,” he said.
Doctors initially said they didn’t think Trevor could ever be a student-athlete again, because of the risk of re-injury if another blow to the head would occur.
But there were a few sports they forgot about in that original diagnosis, and Trevor is taking advantage of the opportunity to compete again – again with Ty by his side in the heat of the battle.
BOWLING CONTINUES UNITY BETWEEN BOYS
Trevor can never play football again, because the risk of another blow to his head is too strong.
Other sports like basketball or baseball aren’t as dangerous, but still are too contact-inclusive to keep Trevor out of harm’s way.
But bowling is OK, and offers him no risks.
Trevor said he has friends who are bowlers, and they talked him into joining the team.
He’s a natural, too. Through hard work and practice, Trevor improved his skills and has become of the top bowlers on the team.
Trevor said he misses football at times, but mostly just because he loved the thrill of competing and trying to beat an opponent.
Bowling quenches that thirst, and Trevor boasts that he has several games flirting with or surpassing a 200 score.
“It’s fun,” Trevor said of being a varsity bowler. “I love the competition side of it.”
But the best part is who he gets to do it all with – his good pal, Ty.
Ty stopped playing football after the 2015 season, and he, too, joined bowling.
The boys are partners on the squad and they said the ability to be able to compete together is what makes the entire experience worthwhile and memorable – one they’ll never forget.
“There are people who’d have never thought we’d be playing anything together ever again,” Ty said. “But we get to bowl, and that’s awesome.”
“When they told me I probably couldn’t play sports anymore, I was shocked, and it took me a long time to get over that,” Trevor added. “But to be able to recover, become a bowler and do it with Ty, it’s just amazing. I’m here because of the power of prayer. My family and the South Lafourche community filled me with their prayers, and with God, they’ve helped heal me, which has let me get to where I am today. I am forever grateful. … Even today, it’s still overwhelming.”
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