- September 18, 2024
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Being forced to sit out the kickoff classic and the first game of the season will be like a walk in the park for Flagler Palm Coast football player Grant Winkler.
After all, less than three months ago, the senior defensive back/receiver couldn’t even walk. Now, he is just grateful to be able to practice with his teammates again.
Winkler spent nine days in the hospital at the end of May with aseptic meningitis.
“It was probably the scariest thing of my life,” he said. “I basically was out of it. I didn't even know my own name for about six days. In about two, three more days of time I would have had permanent brain damage.”
Winkler lost about 30 pounds. By day 6, he was so sick throwing up, he couldn’t eat anything, his father, Jason Winkler said. He had double vision and could barely see, Grant Winkler said.
“I couldn't walk straight for about the first week, week and a half, out of the hospital,” he said.
I'm eating like crazy, lifting like crazy. I haven't missed a workout since about week 3 of being out of the hospital. I mean, I haven't missed a day.”
— GRANT WINKLER
But by the third week after he returned home, he got back on the football field. Since then he has gained back most of the weight he lost and feels that he is almost fully recovered.
“The first week I wanted to get back to it immediately. My mom was like, you can't push yourself. The doctors said probably nine to 10 weeks come-back time, and I was out running trying my hardest at three weeks,” he said.
“After last football season, I started working out like crazy. I went from about 138 pounds to 162 pounds. And in a week it was just completely wiped, just a clean slate basically, and it was tough,” Winkler said. “But I'm up to about 155, 156. So I'm getting it back faster because of muscle memory. I'm eating like crazy, lifting like crazy. I haven't missed a workout since about week 3 of being out of the hospital. I mean, I haven't missed a day.”
He will miss the Oct. 16 kickoff classic at home against Deltona and the Bulldogs’ season opener Aug. 30 at Lake Howell because of a suspension stemming from an end-of-the game altercation in FPC’s final lacrosse game last season against Matanzas.
Because of a cancellation, FPC's football team will have a bye in Week 1, so Winkler won’t be eligible to return until Sept. 6 in a home game against Mainland.
“We're excited for him,” FPC coach Daniel Fish said. “We obviously expected it to be a little bit longer recovery than it was, but he's back pretty much to 100%. He's a tough kid. He had to fight through a lot. I got to go see him that last day in the hospital where he was up and moving and was able to talk and stuff, but he looked rough even that day. I couldn't imagine what his mom and his dad were going through and the pain he was going through.”
Winkler, who is probably the fastest player on the team, Fish said, started at the end of last season at free safety. Early in the season he was getting a lot of reps at receiver.
“He was a contributor. I think he'll have more of an impact this year,” Fish said. “He's going to probably get more defensive reps than offensive reps. He switches between corner and free safety and then on offense he plays slot receiver and outside receiver. He adds depth on both sides. He's a fast kid. We can put the ball in his hands, and then we can get him to cover a fast guy for us. He’s a good little weapon to have.”
Winkler played four sports last year for the Bulldogs — football in the fall, soccer in the winter and lacrosse and track in the spring.
Not being able to participate for three weeks after he was discharged from the hospital was not easy for a kid who shuns inactivity.
“It keeps me busy, that's for sure,” he said of playing four sports. “I can't go a week without sports, man. That’s what I live for. I love sports. I got to always have something to do.”
He ran the 100 and 200 meters with personal records of 11.56 and 23.58 seconds, respectively, last season. He said track coach Dave Halliday helped him improve his speed.
“It’s fun being fast,” he said. “You catch a whole lot of jet sweeps and whatnot, turn up the field and hopefully score a touchdown every play. That would be awesome.”
Winkler’s parent’s weren’t home when he started getting sick last May. It started with an upper respiratory infection and got progressively worse.
By the time his parents got back he was having intense headaches. He was airlifted to AdventHealth Orlando on May 21 and was placed into pediatric cardiac intensive care.
“He was progressively getting worse and worse each day with cognitive function,” Jason Winkler said. “By day 6, he had the death stare. It was super scary as a parent.”
Jason Winkler said they gave Grant steroids that day and he began eating and drinking again. He was discharged three days later on May 29.
“It took a while for him to get back to his old energetic humorous self,” Jason Winkler said. “He’s the comedian of the family. But he was just exhausted. He still had symptoms with double vision in his right eye. Slowly, over the next six weeks he worked on his nutrition. He’s regained most of that weight loss.”
“My mindset was in the gutter for about two weeks after (he was discharged),” Winkler said. “And then I started getting back to football and my energy started rising again. It was definitely very rough, but I got back to it.”
Winkler is looking forward to the kickoff classic and the season opener, despite not being able to contribute in those games.
“The first two weeks I’ll be on the sideline cheering my ’Dogs on,” he said. “Hopefully they can get the W's. I think they will. The team is definitely coming together.”
