After a traumatic skateboard fall, former Folsom football player fights for a rally

Dylan Richard was a 17-year-old Folsom High School student-athlete with his whole life ahead of him. He was weeks away from graduating as a 5-foot-11, 220-pound middle linebacker and some small colleges were interested in having him on their teams.

On May 12, everything changed. Richard fell off a skateboard while riding with Folsom teammates Jake Reithmeier and Lucas Springer. The accident happened in El Dorado Hills. Richard was not wearing a helmet and he suffered a traumatic brain injury.

“We always ride through those hills on skateboards, it was nothing out of the ordinary,” Springer said. “He had a different board that night and he told us he was going to ride down the hill and to follow him down. Jake (Reithmeier) and I were driving (in the car) and we saw him on the ground. I looked at his head and knew immediately it was serious. I’ve never seen Dylan like that. He was completely out of it.”

Reithmeier added, “This could’ve happened to any of us. I just learned how to skateboard two weeks before this happened. I remember falling while doing it and scraped my leg up. It was a freak accident.”

Richard was transported to UC Davis Medical Center that night. He underwent two emergency brain surgeries that removed his skull from both sides of his head to allow his brain to swell. Richard spent a few weeks at that hospital before being transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on June 2.

Paul Richard, Dylan’s dad, recalls getting the phone call from his oldest son Matthew about what happened.

“I was asleep early that night and my phone rang at 10:45,” Paul Richard said. “My oldest son was on the other line saying it’s really bad. This is the kind of call as a parent you never want to get. As a parent, you lose sleep at night just thinking about getting a call like that.”

Paul Richard said his son has made enormous progress.

“Monday was a great day,” Paul said. “I believe Monday is the day where doctors will mark that Dylan came out of a coma. He opened his eyes before today but he hasn’t been able to follow or track anyone with his eyes. On Monday, he tracked people around the room with his eyes and was able to follow different commands. His sister Gabby is teaching him new handshakes. It’s been a milestone of a day.

“For the first time on Monday, he was following me around the room with his eyes,” he added. “Before he had just been opening his eyes. Four nurses came in and noticed it and were really happy (with the progress).

COVID-19 Limits hospital visitors

The number of visitors allowed at hospitals around the country has been at zero or extremely limited due to COVID-19. Dylan’s parents the first few weeks split 12-hour shifts at the hospital to make sure someone was with their son at all times.

As visitor restrictions loosened, Dylan was able to be visited by some of his friends. The first to visit him was Springer on June 19.

“Everyone sees Dylan as this big football player and varsity team captain, so it was really hard seeing him like that because he is my best friend,” Springer said. “I have known him since seventh grade and he’s been my partner in crime since then. We always push each other to get better, so right now I’m going to push him.

“When I go to visit him, I play music for him,” Springer added. “He tries to lip-sync the music with me. He gave his mom and dad a kiss on the cheek and has given them a thumbs up. He’s making a lot of progress.”

Reithmeier was able to visit Richard in the hospital Monday afternoon.

“That was the first time I’ve seen him since the night of the accident,” Reithmeier said. “It’s hard to talk about. It’s rough, really rough. The first two weeks were really hard because I was trying to keep him on my mind and pray for him. A lot of our teammates and friends are comforting each other because we know how impactful of a person Dylan is on anybody. He’s the life of the party and is really missed by everyone.

“When I went and visited him he was sleeping,” he added. “He did raise his eyebrows when I said something. I know he heard me.”

Folsom Community steps Up To Help

A GoFundMe account was set up by Dylan’s older siblings Gabby and Matthew that has raised $46,575 as of Tuesday afternoon. A meal train website was also set up to help the family.

“The community support is amazing,” said Dylan’s mother, Cindy Manzo. “I have not had to cook a meal in six weeks. I’ve had so much support from family and friends and even random people. My whole neighborhood has been rallying around him. There’s been so much support from the Folsom community.”

A petition for Kaiser Permanente to refer Dylan to Craig Hospital has also circulated throughout social media and has been reposted by many current and former Folsom players. Craig Hospital, in the Denver suburbs, is one of the top brain injury and spinal cord rehabilitation centers in the world and has a program specifically designed for teenagers who suffer those injuries. As of Monday, the petition for Kaiser to send Richard there had 2,660 signatures.

Ashton Fritz, a student at Vista del Lago High School, suffered a major spinal cord injury in July 2017. Fritz was a patient at Kaiser and was referred to Craig Hospital for rehab. The Fritz family has been in contact with Dylan’s family to help guide them through the process and offer support.

“I call them angels,” Paul Richard said. “They have really walked us through the process and shared names of people they talked to, some of the letters they wrote and helped us get in touch with an admission counselor at Craig Hospital. They have helped us so much.”

Folsom team rallies Around Richard

Richard is receiving support from his Folsom coaches and former teammates.

The Folsom team started conditioning workouts Monday, marking the first time players have seen each other in weeks. The team has talked about Richard on Zoom but won’t be able to meet as a full team until guidelines permit.

“As soon as we can have a team meeting in-person we will talk about this,” Folsom football coach Paul Doherty said “A big part of high school football is the intimacy of a locker room. You want to have these hard conversions with your kids because Dylan’s life is different now. These are the conversations you need to have on the daily because kids need guidance and direction.”

Doherty added, “It’s impressive to see that social media is being used in such a positive way to help Dylan. I am new to the (Folsom) community but to see this is another encouraging representation of how amazing the community and program are.”

Doherty continues to check in with Dylan’s family and offer support.

“I’m trying to hold on to hope,” Doherty said. “I call the parents and leave voicemails but you try and not intrude too much. What I’m hopeful for is that young people have a higher success rate of recovering from injuries like this. Hearing that he’s making progress is highly encouraging.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.