Perris Jones of Arcadia, Florida, is a unique young man. The 25-year old plays running back for the University of Virginia football team, where he is also a graduate student pursuing a Master’s in Social Foundations. This degree is designed to help people through social work, teaching, and other people-first efforts. “It’s essentially a degree to help people in some shape, form, or capacity,” Perris notes.
While Perris certainly focuses much of his efforts on the football field, his real passion lies in working with people, something he has felt called to do since his childhood. “Ever since I was a kid I was passionate about helping others, giving to others in any way that I can. That’s something that’s been developed and fostered since I was a kid and it’s just continued to grow. When I had the opportunity to study in college it seemed like a ‘gimmie’ almost.”
In addition to his graduate degree pursuits, Perris has already enjoyed an accomplished college career. He completed a double major in African American Studies and English, all while playing football for 6 years with the university. He plans to graduate with his master’s degree in May 2024.
When he isn’t studying or at practice he loves playing with his puppy, Amana, an adorable American Staffordshire Terrier and pitbull mix. Perris also likes to play his guitar, cook, spend time outdoors, and write poetry. “I write about experiences that I go through. So whether that’s living, day-to-day life, or hardships that come up, that inspires my poetry. Typically when something comes to mind, I’ll go to my notes app on my iPhone, and jot a couple things down and then finish later or wait till something else sparks it to add to it. It’s kind of a free flowing thing that shapes itself over time,” Perris notes. “One of my life goals is to publish a poetry book. I’m trying to accumulate them as much as I can, and hopefully one day have enough to get that accomplished.”
Perris’ life changed forever on the evening of Thursday, November 9th, 2023, during an ACC matchup between the University of Virginia and the University of Louisville. “Leading up to [the accident], it was a normal game week. Practice, class, school…typical. Then we got here, everything felt normal. We get up, play the game,” Perris recalls.
Almost halfway through the third quarter, Perris caught a pass in space and turned upfield. “We had just acquired some momentum during the game, so juices were flowing. I caught the ball in space, tried to make a big collision, then upon that collision my whole body went limp. Couldn’t feel anything, just kind of fell to the ground. I remember thinking ‘I really can’t move.’ I waited for the trainers to come, told them I couldn’t move, after that just proceeded to try and calm myself down.”
Perris had made a head-on impact with a Louisville defender, immediately shutting down movement in his extremities. “The training staff was just trying to see if I had any sensation anywhere. They made sure to keep me calm and my body still while they were doing their thing.”
As one could imagine, Perris experienced a variety of emotions in the moment. “At first I was mad because I dropped the ball. After that…I’m a pretty religious guy, so I told the Lord that I was listening, and whatever He wanted to do, He could do it. I know everything happens for a reason, so whatever that reason may be, I was praying that He would reveal it to me, so that I could walk that path. That brought a calming presence in itself. It brought peace, but in an odd way; it was just quiet. I didn’t really hear a whole lot. Even the voices of the trainers talking went quiet.”
From L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, Perris was transferred to UofL Health. “I was conscious the whole time. I never lost consciousness throughout the entirety of what happened.”
The first few hours and days of his treatment were, “...hectic. That was my first experience with a trauma in the ER, and there was a whole stampede of people asking a whole bunch of questions. Didn’t really know who was talking for most of them, but I answered as best as I could. There were a whole bunch of tests and different scans, and they finally took me up to my room once that was done. That was the first time I felt like I could breathe and relax. It was a lot, but they took great care of me.”
When asked how he felt in those initial hours and days, Perris remembers, “I felt curious, more than anything, wondering what was going on and what was going to happen. But then, also upon that curiosity, just calm still. I feel like I was pretty calm throughout the whole thing. I didn’t get too amped up or too low. I stayed even-keel.”
Perris notes that some limited feeling eventually started to return, when he received his diagnosis from the UofL Health medical team.
“A couple hours later…the doctors told me that my spinal cord, the passageway, was infringed upon by the disc, and the hit made the disc protrude into my spinal cord, which contributed to why I couldn’t feel or move anything. They determined that the best course of action was to go into surgery and create that space to open up that passageway again. There really wasn’t a choice to make, it was just like…alright, that’s what we’re doing.”
Perris’s spinal surgery was performed the morning of Friday, November 10th, just hours after the initial injury. “They removed the protruding disc, put in some metal to replace it, and then another metal plate to keep it where it was.” The procedure took several hours, and he was moved to Frazier Rehab one week later. “I was ready for the next step. I could move right after surgery so I was focused on the path to recovery at that point, trying to do as much as I could as safely as I could to get back to as normal as possible.”
Throughout this process, Perris stayed grounded, doing what he can to manage his emotions. “I wasn’t really worried about anything to come. Like I said, I’m a pretty faithful guy, so I knew that whatever was going to happen, God wanted to happen, and I was okay with that. I don’t know if it’s accepting, but rather just not pushing too hard. I’ve never lived accepting the realities that this world places upon me, I’ve always lived by the reality that God is in control, and anything is possible from that mindset and that perspective. It wasn’t accepting the current state, but trusting in ‘not today,’ regarding certain functions I was waiting to come back.”
Was it difficult for Perris to stay patient throughout the surgery and recovery process? “Definitely. Coming from playing sports and moving around all the time…especially with football being a merit-based system, with how hard you work determining how you’re rewarded…it was definitely hard at times.”
Perris had nothing but kind words for the staff at UofL Health and Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, recalling that they, “...were outstanding. You can’t ask for better care, truly. I imagine whenever they drew it up in the book, that’s exactly how they enacted it. It was textbook. They’re really family now, as opposed to just nurses, doctors, therapists…everybody took me in as if I were their own, and treated me as part of their family, and treated my family as such as well. You can’t ask for better care and treatment from the UofL system as well as here at Frazier…You could feel the comfort and the warmth and the support coming from them.”
What would Perris tell someone going through the same situation? “For one, I would tell them to control the controllables. You can’t control what will happen to you, but you can control how you can respond to them. Take an attitude of gratitude for everything, and realize that there’s a reason for everything, so try to take the lesson from that…Don’t place limitations upon yourself. The only limitations that exist are the ones you place on yourself. So don’t place any. Know that anything is possible, stay faithful, stay patient, trust the process, and know that the journey may be long, but the journey that you enjoy and the lessons that you learn from it will be those that you can’t learn anywhere else, and that you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life.”
Perris was discharged on November 28th, 2023, and has returned to his home in Charlottesville, VA. He already had big plans for his return: “I’m looking forward to playing with my puppy, spending some time with her…seeing my teammates as well…then getting back to some sense of normalcy. I think that’s the biggest one…it’ll do good for me, I think.”
Looking ahead, “I think throughout this whole incident, that’s something that’s changed for me. I’ve always been like, ‘What’s a year from now look like?’ You don’t know that you’ll have that, so just taking it a day at a time, mastering every day, trying to be the best that I can be every day, and to see where that gets me.”
Perris has returned home and is continuing his recovery from surgery. After the winter break, he plans to finish his Master’s in Social Foundations. Perris is expected to graduate in May, 2024.
Perris Jones.
Disciplined, hopeful.
Trauma Survivor.
