The McIntosh Chiefs varsity football team will be without a running back, defensive back and kicker for the rest of the season. They haven’t lost three players, just one who plays like three.

Senior Brett Buehler was running the ball last week when a Woodward Academy defender tackled him. Buehler’s knees buckled and he had what is called an avulsion fracture on both of his legs. His tendons are still intact but the bones around the tendons near the tibias snapped. It is a gruesome injury, especially when the tackle did not appear to be anything unusual.

“It was a freak accident,” said McIntosh head coach Dwight Jones. Buehler’s mother, Sue, didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary until she noticed that her son was still on the ground and the coaches were backing players away. The EMTs at the game were called to the field and a Woodward parent who is an orthopedic surgeon straightened Buehler’s legs out.

“The doctors were stunned that it happened to both legs,” Buehler said, adding that they told him it would make recovery more difficult.

Buehler is expected to recover 100 percent but it is expected to take between nine and 12 months. He is hoping for an eight month recovery period and is eager to start physical therapy, which will start in three to four weeks.

The Buehlers are very grateful for the support that Brett has received from friends, neighbors, teammates and coaches. They even received a call from the parent of a Banneker player who had heard about the injury.

“We’re just overwhelmed by the response from the community, from Fayette County and beyond,” Sue Buehler said. “You don’t realize how close knit this community really is until something like this happens.”

“Brett is a good kid and a quality player,” said Jones. “He was doing a good job at defensive back, really coming on at running back, getting better and better every week, and was handling field goals and kickoffs for us. It will be difficult without him.”

Buehler doesn’t believe his football days are over. He hopes to attend LaGrange College next year and play for them, possibly as their kicker. Healing will be a long process for him, one that will keep him out school for the next one to two months and will keep him from wrestling or running track this year as well, but Buehler is a determined young man who has the support of his family, his team and the community behind him.