By Blake Chadwick
Caldwell’s Keelen Eaton is a standout sophomore and a three-sport athlete who excels in cross country, track, and basketball. From a young age, she has had a deep passion for sports, dedicating herself to competition and growth across multiple disciplines. However, her journey hasn’t been without challenges. At one point, Keelen faced a serious health scare that required a trip to the hospital, threatening her ability to continue pursuing the sports she loves.
“It started the day of a basketball game which happened to be on my birthday, and I felt a pinch under my left arm and told my parents,” Eaton said. “We brushed it off not thinking much about it until after the varsity game. That’s when the pinching became worse. The next day I woke up, and I couldn’t move my left arm. Throughout the rest of that week, I was in agony with a sharp pain in my side. We went to the ER and stayed there for hours of endless pain. I was then loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Wesley Hospital in Wichita where I stayed at Wesley for about two months before getting to go home. I had to carry a wound vac around and wouldn’t stay the entire day at school. I would have to go back and forth from home to the hospital for wound cleanings. I would end up going to physical therapy for my left arm due to not being able to move it above my shoulder. I then had to go back in March for a staph infection on my back. The second time staying in the hospital was the hardest. It was tough staying positive when all I wanted was to go back home. I then would go to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center to get skin grafts.”
The sophomore dealt with so much adversity but took the challenge head-on as she continued to get back to playing sports and getting her schoolwork done while achieving a 4.0 again.
“The teachers I had would help me and didn’t throw all the work I missed at me,” Eaton said. “They definitely helped me a lot through school while I was still recovering. They didn’t stress me with mountains of makeup work.”
