Inside Infamous #10 - Update on Trevor Resar.
If you didn't hear what happened to Trevor Resar at the NXL Great Lakes Open you must have been under a rock. If you did hear, but maybe didn't get the full scoop, let us set the record straight.
It was Infamous's 3rd match of the event, in a must win match against Baltimore Revo. We had the lead and Revo started to mount a come back. In the final 30 seconds of the match, Revo made their push as Trevor, Thomas and Kali locked up the field holding off the attack. Trevor made a move from the center "W" bunker to trade out with the Revo player and they met in a head on collision.
Trevor can you tell us what happened from here?
I pride myself on making quick decisions, reacting fast, and making the move as fast as possible, with my head up, gun up, and with 100% intention and commitment. As I came around the wall, we were both in full stride. We made our initial exchange, momentum carried us closer together, and his barrel hit my lens, dented my lens and scraped upward. This is what resulted in me losing my goggles. He started to fall backwards, and my momentum carried me further towards him. It was at this point I was shot on the lower bone of the eye socket, and I believe his barrel hit the bridge of my nose.
As I was laying on the field, covered up by refs, it took me a couple of seconds to process what had happened. With my hands covering my face, my mind was racing, and then the pain hit. Once the game had been stopped and Sean Jean came over to assess me, I was able to pull my hands from my face. I couldn’t see out of my left eye, and my hands were covered in blood ( I later learned this was blood from my nose, not my eye). I grabbed Sean and begged him to tell me how bad it is, and to not lie to me. I thought for sure my eye was gone. He assured me that I still have an eye. I was rushed to the ER and sent for several tests, including a CT Scan. I was released several hours later, and was told to see a specialist as soon as the swelling went down.
Can you give us an update on how you're doing mentally and physically after such a traumatic incident?
It has honestly been the most terrifying experience of my life. After getting home and seeing two specialists, I was told that I have several abrasions on my eye, and bleeding from my retina. I was put on very strict limitations (no lifting, no bending over, sleep sitting up, etc). This was all to minimize the chance of the retina detaching. I’m currently still in an eyepatch. All of the internal eye bleeding has caused dark floaters in my vision, and caused everything to look yellow out of that eye. think of your eye like a snow globe, when I sleep or sit still, all of the bleeding and yellow plasma settle to the bottom. When I’m up and active, my eye moves and shakes all of this up, and I see it in my vision. My doctors tell me that my body will absorb most of these floaters and yellow tint. If, several months down the road, these floaters and yellow tint are still present, we will talk about surgery to remove them. Currently I do have some vision loss in that eye, I am told that only time will tell if it’s permanent.
Due to having one eye covered with an eye patch, I can’t drive, or do anything else that requires the use of depth perception. Even putting a pen cap back on a pen becomes a task. But I am staying positive and hopeful. This situation could have turned out so much worse. Had I been shot a 1/4 inch higher, I would have with out a doubt lost my eye. It would have drastically changed my life.
I’d like everyone to know that I am not stepping away from paintball. I have had a lot of messages, and have been told that there are rumors of that. To clear the air, that is not the case. I will however take this whole process one step at a time. We are only given one set of eyes in this life time, and I’m going to do everything I can to recover properly. If that means, missing the next event, then so be it. I trust my doctors, and I know that they have my best interest in mind. I have not been cleared to play World Cup yet. I am hopeful for that as well, but I will take whatever advice my doctors have when we go to have that conversation. They know that I am wanting to be ready for World Cup, and they are monitoring me closely to give me the best opinion on if I should play or not. But I am not done with paintball.
Having an accident like this, really makes you think a lot. I’ve spent and dedicated a huge chunk of my life to this sport, and to imagine that it could have been over in a split second is overwhelming. I don’t make my living off of paintball. I have a fiancé and two girls that rely on me to provide for them, and this could have really rocked our world. I had to really dig deep, lean on my faith in God, my fiancé, family, friends and teammates to get through this. I am not out of the woods yet, but I am thankful everyday that it was not worse than it is.
Obviously I have not been able to pick up a paintball marker since the accident, and I have no idea how that is going to feel mentally when I get to step back on the field. I am eager and hungry to get back as soon as possible, but I am not looking forward to wrestling with the sea of emotions that will cause.
I can’t say Thank You enough to everyone who has been there for me in such a trying time. First off, my incredible fiancé. She has been right next to me through the entire process, and has had to drive me around everyday and help me with my current deficiencies. Secondly, my teammates, and in this group I include everyone associated with Infamous. From our incredible staff, coach, wives and family members of my teammates, and so on. They all went above and beyond, not only at the event, but after as well. My personal family and friends and with out a doubt, the fans. I’ve been flooded with messages, comments, emails, etc. I have done my best to reply to each and every one of you. Here we are weeks later, and I’m still catching up on all of those messages. You guys are the best. The support from everyone has been incredible.
Has Chris from REVO reached out to you at all after the accident?
Chris is a stand up individual. He was the first to jump on me, and I know he was shaken up about the whole incident. While I was in the ER, REVO posted a photo of me. I sent them a message with my number included, and told them to have Chris contact me. We spoke for 20-30 minutes, and through out the weeks after the event, he has stayed in contact. I have 100% respect for him.
How do you feel the NXL handled the situation?
The reaction time from the referees to jump on top of me was incredible. My hat is off to them for being on top of the ball. I highly respect the job they do, and to put their bodies on the line to protect me, I will forever be grateful for. I only wish that the game would have been stopped sooner. After being covered up by 5-7 refs, I don’t think the game should have gone on for as long as it did. Injury or not, if one whole side of the field loses its refs, it becomes lawless on that side of the field until they are back in their positions. Other than that, I feel like the referees and CJ did a great job of reacting to the incident seconds after it happened.
The WPBO released statements requiring players wear / use the chinstraps that originally came on the goggles, where do you stand on this? I see this as a double edge sword and have an argument in both directions on it. Chin straps are effective on motorcycle helmets, for instance, because they have a key component that paintball goggles do not, a top. If a chin strap is worn "properly" (tight against the bottom of your chin/jaw on a paintball goggle, every time that we open our mouths to talk, we will be pulling our goggles further down our face due to a lack of having a top. So if we wear them loose enough to talk and communicate (which has become THE biggest factor in our sport with the "no coaching" policy) are we really benefiting from wearing them? Motorcycle helmets also have the straps sewn into the helmet. I'm not sure that a simple button snap is going to hold up to a barrel in a high speed collision.
Now, I do support any rule or regulation that has the players safety in mind. And I do see where chin straps could prevent a complete loss of mask in a bad dive situation, for example.
I don't know where exactly to stand on the issue, but I can see the various sides of the argument, and there will always be "what if" scenarios. We, as a sport, just need to look at the big picture and decide what is safest for the players as a whole and come up with a game plan to move in that direction.
What do you think about the fact that wearing a chin strap hasn’t been enforced for years? To be honest, I don't know how to answer that question.
How was it being sidelined for the Sunday morning Dynasty match and seeing first hand, as the boys lose after having the lead 5-1?
It’s never easy to be a spectator. We have a great opportunity to not only win the event, but a series as well. To sit on the sidelines and not be a contributing factor is tough. I want to win. Always.
What do you think went wrong toward the last half of the match?
We came out strong the first half. We switched to a defensive style “Iron Cross” game plan the second half of the match. I think the play call was correct. We have a big lead, and should chew up as much time as we can. We lost the break outs on a few points, and we came off of the cross on a few points and let them right back into the match. Stupid mistakes that cost big!
Anything else you would like to add or need to get off your chest? I would just like to reiterate that I do not plan on stepping away from this game I love so much. As long as I can ball, I'm going to ball. #SkeletonSquad #NotSoft
If you would like to follow me on this recovery process, feel free to subscribe to my social media outlets. I’m responding to every message or comment that is coming in. The support from the fans keeps me motivated. Much love to you all.
Facebook- facebook.com/trevorresar
Instagram- @trevorresar
