KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Staley High School varsity football player has a long road to recovery after a car crash broke his back on his way home from a game earlier this month.

Jaden Nekula, 16, a junior wide receiver, has been hospitalized at Children’s Mercy Hospital since the Oct. 3 head-on collision on Highway 69 at Crown Hill Road in Excelsior Springs. His family said the crash, following an away game that ended later than usual, occurred shortly before 11:45 p.m. after someone turned left in front of the car driven by one of Jaden’s family members. Jaden was belted in and asleep in the back seat, they said.

KCTV5 is awaiting more information from a police report.

LIVES CHANGED IN AN INSTANT

“You would never have thought this would happen. I didn’t,” said Susan Cook, Jaden’s gr

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