HOLLISTON, MASS. (WHDH) - The Holliston High School football team is showing support for a senior quarterback whose injuries on the field back in March nearly cost him his leg.
Kevin Balewicz was surrounded by his senior teammates, who brought him a piece of their most recent win hours after getting home from the hospital.
“Just to see the smile on his face, his parent’s faces, and the kids all excited, it was just a great moment,” said coach Todd Kiley. “Yeah, we have someone down who is in our program. But, he’s not going to go through this alone.”
Kevin never imagined his high school football career would end after injuring his leg during a game at Norwood High School.
“When I pushed off to stride on my left leg, I rolled my ankle a bit and felt a pop in my left calf. Then, in the fourth quarter, when I planted my foot, my left calf completely blew out and I hurt my ankle pretty bad,” Kevin explained.
After a few days of persistent pain, he went to the hospital and he was diagnosed with what’s known as Compartment Syndrome — a muscle and nerve condition that causes pain, swelling, and sometimes disability in the affected muscles of the legs or arms.
“Most of the time it’s in car accidents or big injuries with broken bones, so that’s why my case was so rare and hard to diagnose because it was from a sprained ankle,” he said.
Emergency surgery was the only option and Kevin was facing the possibility that his left leg may need to be amputated.
“They said they were going to do their best, but they didn’t know if it was too late,” said Kevin.
He underwent two successful operations at Tufts Medical Center that left the teen with a large scar but a lot of gratitude.
“I’m grateful the doctors were able to save my leg because it could have been a lot worse than it is right now,” he said.
Kevin said his teammates have made all the difference on his long road to recovery.
“They’ve just been very supportive to make this recovery so much easier,” he said.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)