Former Moon Valley football star Nick Carlon is in an El Paso, Texas hospital, fighting for his life, after being struck by a car in Las Cruces, N.M., on Wednesday.
Yvette Carlon, Nick’s mom, said that her son was on his way to see his girlfriend in Belmont, Texas, when his car broke down, she believed on a highway.She said he got out of the car when he was struck by another car.
She said she was informed by police Wednesday evening. The accident is under investigation, she said.
Carlon, 23, who graduated from Moon Valley in 2016 holding the school record for punt return yardage in a season and accumulating 253 career tackles as a safety, suffered head trauma, a shattered femur bone, broken ribs and a kidney laceration, Yvette said.He underwent surgery Thursday for bleeding on his brain, Yvette said. She said he was given blood transfusions Thursday because he continued to lose blood. He underwent another surgery Friday to insert a metal rod to repair the femur bone in his leg.
“Since we got the call, we’ve been devastated,” Yvette said. “Lots of prayers. The police called. We were not expecting to hear that. … We just want to put all the positive thoughts into this. The policemen were gracious.“Yvette said that her son had graduated this year from Northern Arizona University with a degree in criminal justice. His goal is to become a detective. He played two football seasons at NAU as a walk-on, after receiving a recommendation from Moon Valley coach Sam Jacobs.“Nick was not only a great player, he was and is a great young man,” Jacobs said. “He was an outstanding student, teammate, and leader. His teammates and coaches loved him. Nick was a dream to coach.”
Carlon started at wide receiver and defensive back and returned kickoffs and punts his senior season when he was named the team’s most valuable defensive player at Moon Valley. He had 216 rushing yards and 342 receiving yards to go with 581 yards in kickoff returns and 178 yards in punt returns. He had 85 tackles, an interception and a caused fumble that year.“Nick is one of the best high school players I ever coached,” said Chandler Arizona College Prep coach Myron Blueford, who was the defensive backs coach at Moon Valley when Carlon played. “Great leader and full of joy.
“It’s been a real struggle for me with him going through this. I have faith that he will recover and get back to being the Nick we love.“He was part of the Deer Valley Vandals’ Pop Warner national championship team in 2010 that was coached by Randy Gomez, who to this day has stayed close to Nick and his family.
“Nicholas always performed at a high level,” Gomez said. “We could place Nicholas anywhere on the field and he would step into the position with no questions asked.
“His character was shaped by belief, effort and motivation.”
Because of COVID-19, the family is staying in Phoenix, because they were told they could not see their son in the hospital.
“A lot of friends from NAU and Moon Valley have been stopping by,” Yvette said. “It’s a tight community. Everyone is praying for a miracle.”