Focus Story Structure: Football Injury

It's always sad to see a kid not make it to graduation. Usually, its because they didn't do well in school. This was not the case for Pete Stenhoff. He is not going to graduate with his class because of an old football injury.

That injury of course is a cracked vertibrae, one that he suffered while playing in a football game for Chula Vista High School in Redmond, California. It was a play just like any other and on this play, Pete planted his head in the ball carrier's chest to make the tackle but instead is now confined to a wheel chair. The sad fact is that the 16-year-old Pete is not alone.

High school football produce more than 20,000 injuries to students each year. Unfortunately, 12 percent of them permanently disabling the victims. In fact, there 13 deaths last year attributed to football.