Decals, cards, fundraiser show community rallying behind Mason Martin
The collapse of senior quarterback Mason Martin during the Karns City vs. Redbank Valley game Sept. 1 was nightmare for parents, coaches, school officials, teammates, opposing players, friends and fans.
Mason was rushed to a Pittsburgh hospital, and he has remained there ever since, but as his father, Denny Martin, said in Friday’s Eagle, there are signs of improvement and reason to be hopeful. The first two days showed little change, and Mason was unresponsive, but since then he has started to show signs of purposeful movement.
There are a lot of questions Mason’s family and doctors are still trying to answer. Tests like an MRI have to wait until the swelling in his brain subsides, and they have to happen before anyone can give a prognosis.
But one thing appears certain: Mason’s recovery is going take a long time.
“It’s (going to be) a long journey, and this is just the beginning,” his father said. “As a family, we’re going to need the support the whole way throughout.”
One bright spot has been the outpouring of support the family has received since Mason’s injury.
Blane Gold, the Redbank Valley football coach, was the driving force behind helmet decals that will honor Mason and his mother, Stacy, who was first diagnosed with cancer nearly a decade ago.
Gold was coaching the team that was playing the Karns City Gremlins when Mason collapsed, but this isn’t about teams or rivalries.
“The football world is thinking about Mason Martin,” Gold said. “His family needs to know that. When that kid went down, it stopped being Redbank vs. Karns City. It became a brotherhood of football players.”
Joe Sherwin, the Karns City football coach, praised both Gold and other people, in both the community and beyond, who have offered support.
“I’ve heard from teams on the other side of the state, teams from other states,” Sherwin said. “This is the football community and that community sticks together and supports each other when something like this happens.”
And that is before counting the hundreds of donations to a GoFundMe campaign in support of the family or the cards that have arrived. Cards that Denny Martin and other family members are reading to Mason.
“We make sure he hears it all,” Martin said. “We let him know every post on social media; every card sent, we read it to him.”
The support the family has received is a reminder of how much a community can do. Mason and his family undoubtedly have a long road ahead of them, but your efforts — even something as simple as sending a card or making a donation — can directly impact someone’s life.
Card can be sent c/o Mason Martin, P.O. Box 643, Rimersburg, PA 16248 and electronic cards can be filled out online at ecards.upmc.com.
The GoFundMe is online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/tf5nc-mason-martin.
— JK
