A promising AU football career cut too short
Former Alfred University student and football player Julio Fuentes has been recovering from an injury that every athlete prays won’t happen. In September of 2006, Fuentes was on Alfred’s kick-return unit. Fulfilling his role on a blocking assignment to open the second-half of play, Fuentes collided with a player from Thiel College. Fuentes went down and didn’t get up. He was injured and before long, the nightmarish reality of its seriousness brought Merrill Field to silence.
Fuentes was transported to St. James Hospital in Hornell before being transferred, later that afternoon, to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Fuentes was paralyzed.
This May, Fuentes would have been on-track to graduate. Today, he resides in Olean, moving into a new house and continuing to make strides in an attempt at full recovery.
Fuentes is a graduate of Olean High School, where he was named a Third Team Class B All-State selection, as well as First Team Western New York All-Star, a Big 30 All-Star and an All-League selection as a linebacker. Fuentes was named to the All-Western New York team in 2004 as well.
As a freshman at AU in 2005, Fuentes played third-down back for the Saxon football team. He rushed for 333 yards and a pair of scores, and also caught 22 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 21.1 yards on nine kick-off returns.
I had a chance to play against Julio in high school. When word of his injury reached my hometown of Eden NY, there was shock and awe. “Not Julio,” I remember saying to some of my former high-school teammates. As disappointing as the news was, I was encouraged to hear, from some of his friends on campus, that he was staying positive. I guess I wasn’t surprised, given the tenacity he displayed on the football field. I knew that it had to carry over outside the white lines. So far he seems to have adjusted well to his new lifestyle, while still retaining faith and dedication to a full recovery someday. I was able to interview Julio by phone and catch up with the former Saxon.
The Fiat Lux: To revisit your injury, do you try not to think about what happened?
Fuentes: I usually answer those questions about what I remember because it gives me a chance to go back. For the most part, I remember almost everything. The most difficult part was being in the hospital and the people that came to visit and not knowing they were there.
The Fiat Lux: So the date you sustain your injury, what ran through your mind?
Fuentes: When I got hurt, I went to get up; it felt like an accordion and it sounded like one. I knew right from that incident, I was paralyzed. I didn’t know what to think.
The Fiat Lux: How has recovery been? What limitations are currently you facing?
Fuentes: It’s going pretty good. It’s slow. In my case nobody knows if I’ll walk again. I’m just trying. I have feeling. I can feel everything. I feel like I’m getting stronger. I’m just trying to get back to where I was.
The Fiat Lux: What have you been up to?
Fuentes: I’ve been trying to get things straight for me. I have done some therapy. We went to Atlanta for 6 months. They taught my family and my mom how to take care of me.
The Fiat Lux: Are you still a fan of football?
Fuentes: Ya, definitely. I mean I can’t really hang my hat on football. It was just a freak accident. Even when I was in the hospital they had football on.
The Fiat Lux: Are you more of a NCAA or a NFL fan?
Fuentes: I’m more of a NY Giant fan.
The Fiat Lux: Do you have a favorite player?
Fuentes: That’s rough. I have to go with Maurice Jones-Drew. He’s a small guy like I was.
The Fiat Lux: Are you planning on returning to college anywhere?
Fuentes: I’ve got 5 years to go back. I’m planning on going back shortly because we just moved into a new house. I want to do some online stuff. I figure I have all my life to go back. I’d consider going back to AU. I’d probably go back to AU. (Right now) It’s more of a personal choice.
The Fiat Lux:Fuentes: That’s rough. I'd just like to say I’d love to be there. Just unfortunate I’m not able to be there. I would have loved to have been there this year and been graduated. The most important thing is that anything can happen to anybody at any time, and I pray this doesn’t happen to anybody. I’m just playing the cards that were dealt to me.
