Finding a silver lining: Paper gets memorable hospital experience after taking horrific hit

BCLUW junior Ben Paper never dreamed that he’d spend his homecoming weekend lying on his back in a hospital bed, let alone a University of Iowa Hospital bed. But whether it was fate or just really unfortunate luck, a hit that he took during the first half against Central Springs on Friday night set him on a path that gave him one of the best seats in the house at Kinnick Stadium for Saturday’s Iowa-North Texas game—and an interview with ESPN to boot.
           
“If you would’ve told me 24 hours ago that I’d been in a hospital watching the Hawkeye game, I would’ve said I wouldn’t believe you,” Paper said at his home outside of Conrad on Monday. “It’s just crazy how things can turn for the worst so fast.”
           
While the weekend as a whole is one he’ll never forget, there are parts of it that Paper will probably never remember: the starting offensive and defensive lineman took a shot in the ribs in the first quarter of Friday’s contest, and he quickly got a sense that something wasn’t right. He had felt a similar pain in his back the week prior against Sumner-Fredericksburg, and despite being prescribed muscle relaxers to help him deal with the discomfort, it wasn’t subsiding.
           
“I played one series on defense, and by that time, it felt like someone was taking a hot iron rod and just pressing it on my back,” he said.
           
By the second quarter, Paper—generally a vocal and energetic leader on the team—could barely waddle on and off the field, and his parents Jason and Valerie hustled down to take him to the emergency room at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital. At this point, Ben’s memory starts to get hazy, and his mother takes over telling the story.
           
A CT scan revealed that something deeper was amiss: Paper’s right kidney was twice as large as his left one, and due to his age (16), he would need to be admitted to either the Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines or the University of Iowa Hospitals. Iowa City was actually the family’s second choice, but they quickly discovered that Blank didn’t have a pediatric kidney specialist on-staff. The decision was made for them.
           
The ambulance finally pulled into the hospital well after midnight, and Ben didn’t leave the UI emergency room until 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. But shortly thereafter, the situation finally took a turn for the better as he was moved to the ninth floor of the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in a bed with a prime view of Kinnick Stadium just in time for the 2:30 kickoff. 
 
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