It was the first Monday of summer 2025, and senior Vaughn Monroe felt like he was on top of the world. He had wanted to go on a rope swing over a lake since school ended, and now he and his friend were finally there. He didn’t know that this small event would keep him out of the thing he loves for the rest of his life.
Vaughn had been wrestling and playing football ever since he got into high school, and they quickly became some of his passions. Although he played both, wrestling was where his heart was. Being able to show off his individual skills helped him feel satisfaction for his hard work.
”You can win a football game and celebrate with your team, but when you win a match, only you won,” Monroe said. “If you lose, it’s all on you. Can’t blame anybody else.”
After finishing his junior season with a 23-22 record, he had high hopes for his senior year.
But then he went on the rope swing. For a while, it was great. Then it all went wrong. A couple swings in, and he missed the jump and fell on a tree stump, degloving his leg.
Degloving is when skin or tissue separates from muscles in the body. This causes the degloved area to fill up with fluid due to there being a pocket created. It causes a large bruise to form.
“At first, it was just kind of a scratch, super red, bleeding a little bit,” Monroe said. “My first initial thought was that it was going to suck, because we had to swim back across the river and there was no way I was gonna be able to do it. Thank God someone had a boat and was able to take me.”
At first, he believed that he suffered a simple bone bruise. He and his mom applied ice every day hoping that it would heal. Although it looked like it had healed, him pushing himself again aggravated the injury.
“It started to get better over the summer and I started to try and work out again,” Monroe said. “I thought [working out again] was fun. But when I got back into 100% wrestling and football practices, [the injury] got much worse.”
Although he applied ice as his mother insisted, the bruise swelled up to the point it was the size of a football sticking out of his leg. He would have to remove the fluid from his leg. 5 weeks after the initial injury, he went to the hospital and got it extracted.
“A few days later, I couldn’t walk much,” Monroe said. “I went to a beach house for my friend’s birthday, and I couldn’t swim with them. I couldn’t do much at all.”
Going into football season, he was constantly visiting the physical therapist to undergo heat therapy. He was told that even with treatment, he would be out for the year.
Although upset, he set his sights on getting prepared for wrestling. He double wrapped his leg with bandages attempting to prevent the bruise from filling back up. It wasn’t enough.
“I would really tie it to my leg during practice. After two weeks, I couldn’t do it anymore,” Monroe said. “It started getting worse, and I didn’t want to have an injury for the rest of my life.”
His friends and coaches were upset once they heard about the news. They knew it was devastating for him, knowing this would have been his last year to do what he loved most.
One of Monroe’s good friends, senior Elijah Lester, was angry when he found out about the injury . Monroe had always been his hype man, so losing him was a huge disappointment.
“When he told me he was done for the season, I was like ‘Dangit bro’,” Lester said. “He always pushes me to do my best, wins or losses. I was disappointed he wasn’t able to compete this year because that’s my dog.”
Nonetheless, Monroe still has big plans for what he wants to do in the future. He plans to attend Lone Star in the summer to hopefully become an EMT.
Many believe that his personality will help him be successful in whatever he pursues.
“I think he will be successful in whatever field he chooses because he works hard and he’s dependable,” wrestling coach Jeff Knight said. “He’s always been one of the most popular kids on the team, mainly because he gets along with everyone.”
So much has changed in Monroe’s life since that rope swing adventure just eight months ago. During that time, he has accepted the fact that he just isn’t the same kid anymore.
“If I could be back, I would tell myself not to do it. I don’t think my past self would have listened though,” Monroe said. “It’s one of those learning experiences everyone has to go through in life. I don’t mean that everyone swings into a tree, but everyone has done something that they will regret forever. I look at it as a consequence that saved me from doing something else later in my life.”
