Page 23 - 2024 Impact Awards Program

Thomas A. Brady Comeback Thomas A. Brady Comeback

Award Award

The Thomas A. Brady Comeback Awards honor both male and female student Grace Bennett of Evansville Christian High School never believed that she
athletes at the high school level from Indiana who have distinguished themselves would be able to play organized sports and feel the camaraderie of
by overcoming adversity or injury and returned and excelled beyond expectations in participating on an athletics team when she was diagnosed with
their respective sports.
hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) - a connective tissue disorder
Known as the father of sports medicine in central Indiana, Dr. Thomas A. Brady affecting the proteins in her body – at 14 years old. That was until two years
spent his evenings and weekends attending sporting events and treating athletes on ago when her school offered a girls’ golf program for the first time. Although
the sidelines. He was especially dedicated to high school athletes, recognizing that hesitant at first and facing a daunting learning curve from never gripping a
proper treatment of their injuries could mean the possibility of attending college on
an athletic scholarship. For that reason, he made himself available to see any injured club previously, the thought of identifying as an “athlete” overcame these.
athlete at a moment’s notice, including on weekends.
Known to her team, school, and community as an example of good mental
Despite a busy private orthopedic practice, you could find Dr. Brady traveling all attitude and sportsmanship, Grace overcame these challenges in her life
over the city for Friday Night Football games to ensure that all athletes received and reached the golf sectionals her senior year. Success was not linear,
proper medical care. Eventually, Dr. Brady opened a walk-in clinic in the basement
of Methodist Hospital, where he treated injured athletes at no charge. The need for with some days proving her unable to participate in competition and
sports-specific orthopedic care became so great that Dr. Brady, along with Dr. John experiencing setbacks. Through this pain, she would continuously give her
McCarroll, Dr. Art Rettig, and Dr. Donald Shelbourne, opened the first sports spot to a teammate to ensure participation and inclusion of others. While
medicine clinic in Indiana: Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics. not actively playing, Grace would ride along with her teammates and
At the time of his retirement, Dr. Brady was an orthopedic consultant to 16 public opponents, learning from them, encouraging others, and proving to be a
high schools, five Catholic high schools, and one private school in Indianapolis. He selfless leader.
was also a consultant for the teams at DePauw University and Indiana Central
College (now known as the University of Indianapolis). Grace was told she would be unable to participate in anything like this in
her life. She came back and “finished what she always wanted to do.”
As a result of his dedication to injured athletes and his availability to them, Dr.
Brady, Dr. McCarroll, Dr. Rettig, and Dr. Shelbourne became widely interested in
research and developed many innovative techniques for safely returning injured William Jamison of Homestead High School welcomed his senior year of
athletes to sports sooner than previously thought possible. In 2004, the Forté high school like many other varsity athletes: looking forward to his last year
Orthopedic Research Institute, formerly Methodist Sports Medicine Research & with state title aspirations, and even working towards life after graduation
Education Foundation, was established. The mission is dedicated to supporting and
enhancing the surgeons and physicians’ research, education, outreach, and care while meeting a life-long dream of playing basketball at the Division 1
initiatives at Forté Sports Medicine and Orthopedics. collegiate level. All that changed the night of Homestead’s preseason
scrimmage, where William and his younger sister were involved in an
automobile accident, leaving William in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and
fighting for his life. With many of his organs displaced, few believed William
would be able to play his senior year.

After surgery and an unstoppable will to recover, William left the hospital
and insisted on being dropped off at basketball practice. At 17 days,
William made his first shot after the accident. Through continual work and
an unwavering belief, William returned to the court to play in a varsity
competition his senior year, playing in eight games and weaving through
traffic to score over 20 points in five of those games.
While facing a potential life-ending injury, William never gave up on himself
or his dreams. He showed the courage and drive to come back and once
again chase his dreams.

Grace Bennett William Jamison
Evansville Christian Homestead

22 IHSAA Foundation Impact Awards IHSAA Foundation Impact Awards 23