Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Usain Bolt
Favorite team: Our own Phillies.
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was when I hit two inside the park homeruns in one game.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The most embarrassing moment I’ve ever had was when I fielded a ground ball at first and accidentally threw the ball at the batter. Everyone laughed at it, but it was sure embarrassing.
Music on iPod: Andy Grammer, Outasight, Christina Perri, Flo Rida
Future plans: I want to study Pre-med at Moravian College and run track.
Words to live by: “Don’t get frustrated, or it will be used against you.”
One goal before turning 30: Save $100,000
One thing people don’t know about me: A lot of people do not know of my stroke that disables me. I work to hide it and be a regular person.
By Mary Jane Souder
Kyle Hagerty was your typical All-American kid.
He dreamed of one day playing professional baseball and didn’t have a care in the world.
All that changed one day in September of 2008 when Hagerty, then in eighth grade, returned home from soccer tryouts.
“Me being me, I’m competitive in everything, and I tried to finish first in everything,” he said. “I went home, and I fell asleep.
“I woke up numb on my right side. I tried to go downstairs, and I was hitting things as I was walking. I really didn’t know what was going on. I tried to go on the computer, and it just wasn’t working out for me. My dad took me to the hospital, and I was flown down to CHOP.”
The diagnosis – a spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage or, in layman’s terms, a stroke.
“I never knew what a stroke really was,” Hagerty said. “I heard it was a clot, but I didn’t know what that really meant.”
So began a courageous journey for the Pennridge senior, who has gone on to excel in track and has used that setback as motivation to succeed. Hagerty aspires to pursue a career as a pediatric neurologist, and the past two summers has spoken at the Eagles training camp at Lehigh University to pre-med students.
“I spoke trying to convince med students to go into the field of pediatric neurology because there aren’t enough people going into that field,” Hagerty said.
His link to the Eagles training camp was Dr. Lauren Beslow, his doctor at CHOP who is now an instructor of pediatrics and neurology at Yale University.
“As people have told me, my pediatric neurologist at CHOP created a bubble for me and my family,” Hagerty said. “She liked me so much, and she recommended me to speak because I was one of their patients who made a good recovery.”
Hagerty is a member of Pennridge’s 4x100 relay that has already qualified for districts. He also is a standout long jumper.
“Courageous is the word we like to use,” coach Bob Hosier said. “Obviously, he fought through his problem, and he is now having success.
“He’s very happy. It’s just a shame it had to happen in the first place. Knowing he had a stroke and he’s out there doing what we do at practice every day is very, very great.”
Hagerty’s road to recovery was a long one.
After two months of rehab – physical, speech and occupational – at CHOP, Hagerty began a regiment of outpatient therapy. By December he was back in school for half days, taking only his core classes like math, English and reading. In January, he was discharged from therapy and returned to school fulltime.
“When I got back, I had all my classes, just a little different schedule,” Hagerty said. “When I got home, I slept for four hours. I did all the classwork, but homework wasn’t the top priority because I had to sleep.”
Through it all, he never lost his competitive drive.
“When I got back to school, we did the shuttle run in gym class, and I got an 8.9 and all of my friends were getting 8.4,” Hagerty said. “I was like, ‘I have to get 8.4.’ I finally went after school and I got 8.4.
“I go all-out in gym class. Even in Spanish class, I’m competitive.”
Because he had suffered a stroke, Hagerty was instructed to avoid all contact sports.
“Right after that, I couldn’t play basketball, which really upset me,” he said.
That spring, Hagerty was back on the baseball diamond but with limitations.
“I wasn’t able to throw very well, but I could play first base and I could hit,” he said.
In ninth grade, he tried out for the baseball team but was cut.
Hagerty, who ran track in seventh grade, opted to give winter track a try his sophomore year.
“He had some trouble getting through some of the workouts,” Hosier said. “We had an agreement – do what you can, and if you’re tired, stop.
“He worked out well all year. He liked it, but he still wanted to be a baseball player.”
The dream of playing baseball took a hit when Hagerty was once again cut from the baseball team his sophomore year, but he chose to videotape games to remain a part of the team. As a junior, he tried out for baseball a third time with the same result.
“I didn’t make it, and I cried,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘Wow, forget this. I’m doing track the rest of my high school career. That’s what I’m good at. I don’t want to sit on the bench every year.’”
Hagerty began to experience success.
“He was getting better and stronger all the time,” Hosier said. “He started to like track, and he really came along in the spring and was posting some nice times. He got his varsity letter.
“This year he joined in the winter, and he had a great winter season. He’s constantly showing improvement.”
That improvement is evidenced by the fact that he was running the 200-meter dash in 26 seconds during winter track but has posted a 23.5 this spring. He competes in the 100, 200 long jump and 4x100 relay. His twin brother Sean, who is injured, also competes in track.
“Track is really keeping me in shape, and I like winning,” Hagerty said. “Our team is really good, and it’s really a blast. I plan on doing it in college.”
An excellent student, Hagerty, who is exempt from his chemistry and physics finals, is leaning toward attending Moravian College where he will pursue his interest in science as a pre-med major.
There’s an interesting side note to Hagerty’s stroke.
“Before I had my stroke, I didn’t really have a great memory,” he said. “When I came out of the hospital, I remembered everything. It basically boosted my memory.”
A psychiatric test in 2009 showed that Hagerty’s memory is in the top five percentile of the population. Some other side effects of the stroke aren’t quite as pleasant.
“My right leg is a little weaker, and when I get tired, my right hand doesn’t want to cooperate with me,” Hagerty said. “It always wants to be in a fist, and I have to open it up.”
Hagerty’s successes far outweigh his setbacks, and he enters his final high school track season with some high goals. Whatever the outcome, it’s been quite a journey.
“He’s good in school, he’s good in track,” Hosier said. “He’s well spoken, he’s polite. He’s just an all-around great kid. Things are turning out very nice right now.”
