The father of Mayville State quarterback Matt Donovan provided an update amid his son’s hospitalization following a terrifying injury earlier this month.
“Some days really test your patience. Today was one of them,” Terry Donovan shared via Facebook on Monday, September 28. “Matt is being treated for pneumonia. His provider feels comfortable with the treatment plan and told us pneumonia is common for patients in the ICU, especially after time on a ventilator. It is still scary for us. We want to share the struggles along with the good. The plan is to remove his breathing tube and place a trach tomorrow.”
Terry continued, “We had hoped he might be ready to take that step on his own, but we are hopeful the trach will make him more comfortable and give him the best chance to keep healing.”
The quarterback’s father shared a positive update after sitting in the hospital with his son “all day.”
“For the first time, when I asked him to squeeze my hand, he was able to squeeze it over and over,” Terry said. “I asked him to squeeze a little harder, and he did. He did that again while the provider was in the room. We are still looking for other responses, like a thumbs-up, and he has not woken up yet. But seeing him respond to my voice meant so much.”
Terry revealed his son also squeezed the hand of his mother, Tina, “on command twice.”
“We know this road will have hard days and encouraging moments, sometimes both in the same day,” Terry added. “We will stay strong for Matt, even when it is tough to see him in that room. I believe this will be one part of his story, and that he has so much more story to write. Today, even through the storm, Matt moved the chains.”
He concluded the post, “Please keep pouring prayers and positive thoughts into our boy. Keep fighting, Matt. I love you so much buddy!”
Matt was involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision during a home game against Simpson University on Saturday, September 19. He was life flighted to receive medical care in Fargo, roughly 60 miles away from Mayville’s North Dakota campus.
“Once he arrived in Fargo, he underwent surgery on his brain that lasted just over two hours, where they removed portions of his skull in order to release the pressure from his brain,” the school said in a statement on Sunday, September 20. “After leaving surgery, he was released into the intensive care unit and is under some of the best medical care in the Midwest.”
The school continued, “This morning his eyes reacted to light in a normal manner, which caused the neurosurgeon to say last night is a win. He is still in a medically-induced coma, and is fighting like crazy. Your prayers are working and encouraged at this time.”
A GoFundMe arranged in Matt’s honor has raised more than $109,000 at the time of publication.
