After months of reflection, St. Laurence’s Chase Kwiatowski summed up his experience with a fractured fibula.
As a junior quarterback at Lake Central in Indiana, Kwiatkowski was sacked in an Oct. 6 game against Merrillville and tried to finish but couldn’t. This was shortly before the playoffs.
Flash forward to mid-August as he sat as a transfer student in the office of St. Laurence coach Adam Nissen and talked about the injury and healing process.
“It was pretty cool,” he said.
Wait. What? Pretty cool?
Actually, the injury part wasn’t cool, but the bigger picture was. He returned to the field quicker than expected on Oct. 27 and play in his team’s two playoff games.
Even more important, he gained firsthand knowledge of what he hopes will be his future profession — as an orthopedic surgeon.
Coincidentally, Kwiatkowski used the injury as a reference point at school.
“I was in an anatomy class, and I was learning about bones and bone recovery and all of that,” Kwiatkowski said. “I was taking this class and learning from the doctors about recovery, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is interesting stuff.’”
Kwiatkowski picked up an interest early in life to become a surgeon thanks to a family friend who is a doctor.
“I’ve never been grossed out by sports injuries,” he said. “I’ve always been intrigued by what goes behind it with surgery and repair and the recovery time.”
Kwiatkowski’s own recovery time was swift. He learned about a four-step approach to healing, and even though his doctors told him they expected him to miss the playoffs, he healed quicker than expected.
A lot of changes came after that.
In the spring, he joined the track team for the first time at Lake Central. He then wanted to test his academic mettle and transferred to St. Laurence, where his goals include leading the Vikings to both a state football title in the fall and a track championship in the spring.
Senior running back Harley Rizzs said last spring that adding an athlete of Kwiatkowski’s caliber can make that a reality. Last season, the Vikings also put together a huge postseason in football and surprised a bunch of people by finishing second in the state in Class 4A.
Although Kwiatkowski wasn’t around for that, he wanted to check out St. Laurence’s approach.
“I watched films of their games to see what they were all about,” Kwiatkowski said. “It pumps me up because I really want to go back (to state) and I’m just as hungry as they are, even though I wasn’t in the game.
“I’m just as hungry to take it home.”
Kwiatkowski, who has committed to Illinois State, accounted for 1,540 yards passing and rushing and 14 touchdowns last season for Lake Central.
Through summer play and preseason practice, he has fit right in with the Vikings.
“He got nominated as a captain by his peers, which I think tells you everything you need to know,” Nissen said. “When you are a senior transfer and your teammates elect you as a captain, that speaks volumes about his character and how he operates.
“He’s a dual-threat guy. There is not a throw he can’t make, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with his run reads and his reaction time to the run game.”
Kwiatowski said his main goal is to be a surgeon, but “I want to take football as far as far as I can.”
His new coach noticed that right away.
“He probably has his life together more than a lot of adults,” Nissen said. “He’s very focused, and he’s been that way since the day I met him.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
