A father says after his son did not receive any medical attention during football practice, school athletic trainers found his son and said he only had a sprained wrist. Later at a hospital, it was confirmed he broke his wrist, sprained his other arm and his neck, and suffered a concussion.
ByThe family of a teenager severely injured during football practice wants answers. The 15-year-old got hurt earlier this week, his father says. The 15-year-old Valparaiso High School student's father is now working with his attorneys in Indiana to figure out the next steps in what has been a terrifying few days for the family following Monday night's practice that left the boy with a serious brain injury and a broken bone.
"He's like a different kid, it's very concerning," father Jason Solomon said. Solomon has spent the week in and out of the emergency room with his son, Malakai. He's a freshman football player at Valparaiso High School and on Monday the team held an offseason limited contact practice in the school's field house with no helmet or pads. That is normal protocol, but during practice, Solomon says Malaki got hit during a play. While trying to break the fall with his hands before, his head allegedly hit the ground. That's when he was helped up by coaches, but Solomon says he didn't receive any medical attention after that, and he could not find his son after practice until he got a phone call while waiting in the school parking lot. "He was crying saying I'm hurt,'" Solomon said. "I said, 'Where are you?' 'I'm inside,' and 'With who?' He says, 'Nobody'... 'Where's the coaches?' He said, 'Everybody left.'" Solomon says the athletic trainers then found his son and evaluated him, saying he only had a sprained wrist. But after seeing Malaki so shaken up, he rushed him to the hospital, where it was confirmed he broke his wrist, sprained his other arm and his neck, and suffered a concussion.Solomon says he believes the school's head coach and staff did not offer enough care immediately after his son was hurt. "He's having tons of brain fog, vision," Solomon said. "He's having lots of headaches. He's just having lots of problems, even walking." Solomon says he has made several calls and emails to the school and staff but has not heard from them since he saw the head coach after practice Monday night. Valparaiso High School responded to ABC7 with a statement late Thursday afternoon, saying "Player health and safety is paramount to what we do... we have strict protocols in place for whenever an injury is observed and reported... which include using on site athletic trainers." Now Solomon has hired attorneys at Alvarez Law to pursue further legal action, as he believes those protocols were not followed with his son. "You never want to see your kids hurt, and if it was regular football practice and stuff, act of God, things happen, but no shoulder pads, no helmet, limit to no contact, now with his injuries, it just does not make sense," Solomon said. Malakai is now resting at home and will have to miss school for at least a week as he ended up back in the emergency room last night with more symptoms. With growing concerns about his long term health, Solomon says his son will likely make the decision to no longer play football. "He's heartbroken right now because the way he feels is he was part of a team, really wanted to excel, cheered on his teammates, and he feels really let down by the coaching staff," Solomon said.Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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