TULSA, Okla. — Jarek Waitie, a star Union Football player, is on the mend after someone shot him in the face over Labor Day Weekend.
When the Union Redhawks took the field for their game against Jenks, Waitie had to trail behind.
2 News first told you about this story on Sept. 2:
He may not play football this year, or ever again.
“I mean, I’m just wishing I could play,” Waitie said, “Like tonight, this game was the game I was looking forward to during the Summer. It was the game I was most excited for …. the Backyard Bowl.
Doctors have not given him a clear road map, though, he’s carrying on with plans to suit up again.
Waitie has just been praying, “so I can come back and play football,” he said.
If he doesn’t get to play football this year, he might have a chance at the collegiate level, with offers from schools like Penn State and Alabama. He is confident, nevertheless, that he’ll get to run track this year. The first indoor meet is in January.
Waitie was just named to the homecoming court, but his heart is with the team.
2 News caught up with Union’s head coach, Kirk Fridrich, ahead of the game.
“[The team] used the brotherhood of the locker room and being at practice to kind of rally together,” Fridrich said.
Waitie’s friends and teammates are reminded of the shooting just by looking at him.
“I can’t see out of my left eye, I can’t hear out of my left ear, and the left half of my lips are numb,” Waitie said. “So it’s like when I’m talking, I’m just talking out the right side of my mouth.”
He is otherwise healthy and on track for a recovery. He says his life hasn’t changed much; he is just focused on football.
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