PORTSMOUTH, VA (WTKR) — There was one thing about football that stuck out to Norcom's Jaden Ratliff growing up.
"Just love to hit," he said. "I just love to hit people."
He's taken the art of tackling very seriously. A consensus three-star safety, Ratliff has offers from Old Dominion, Maryland, Buffalo, and Campbell, while he's also heard from Virginia Tech, Duke, and Wake Forest.
It was a hit, however, that nearly made that dream go up in smoke during a routine practice in October 2021.
"Me and my defender we ran up to each other, because I went up for the ball and he went up to but I went up higher than him," Ratliff remembered. "He hit me right in my stomach and then I couldn't breathe, the whole time."
"Got a call from the coach that Jaden was laid out and he may have a rib injury because he can't move," Jaden's father Ronnie said.
Paramedics arrived and took Jaden to the hospital, where the situation was much worse.
"My appendix ruptured, and while I was in the hospital my lung's collapsed," Jaden said.
"He had a hole in his stomach, he had severe bruising on his colon, and they were going to have to remove his appendix because there was so much damage," Ronnie remembered.
Jaden need to go into surgery immediately as worries began to fill the Ratliff's heads.
"I was shocked at first. I was just in bed thinking would I be able to play football again," Jaden recalls.
"A month before that, our oldest had got hit by a drunk driver, and we were in the hospital for that," said Ronnie, who's a volunteer assistant coach at Norcom. "God brought him out, saved his eye. We knew 30 days later, exactly 30 days when Jaden had his injury."
The doctors were able to repair the damage but his season was over.
"I had to watch two games in the hospital. It was horrible, wish I could be out there with them," Jaden said. "Enjoying them, celebrating with the teammates after a win, even after a loss, being there for my teammates."
Jaden's had to completely reinvent his diet in the hospital and re-learn how to walk while in rehab.
"I was taking baby steps," Jaden said.
He still had the desire to hit, though, and one that went wrong wasn't going to sway him.
"I didn't know how to take it at first but I just had to deal with it," he said. "Took it day-by-day, and when I was able to be full, get back to work, be there for my teammates."
Within three months, Ratliff was working out again. He hasn't missed a game or practice since.
"The first scrimmage, he came down the alley, full speed, full throttle and knocked the running back on his back," Ronnie remembered. "And I said, '"My boy is back, he's ready.'"
Ratliff leads the Greyhounds with 29 tackles this season, adding an interception.
On Jaden's cleats, there's a simple message: "won't fold." Two words that describe his battle to return to the field through adversity he never saw coming.
"You got to be there for your teammates, so I had to get back better because I knew I wanted to be great this season," Jaden said.
"I had to not fold."
