At 15 years old you should be thinking about starting high school and what you are going to do later that day with your friends. But for junior Edward Parzygnat this was not the case.

It all started in October of freshman year for Parzygnat during a football game against Cary Grove. When there was a sharp pain in his right knee after a tackle during the first quarter, he knew something was wrong. So wrong, that it left him laying on the ground for the better of two minutes.

“My leg got trapped under someone and I went to go turn around and it just gave out,” said Parzygnat

After being carried off the field to seek medical attention he was given a tough choice: to get his knee wrapped up correctly or jump back into the game. After one play, Parzygnat had made his choice.

“I had the option to sit out, but after watching what was going on I knew I had to get back in there,” said Parzygnat. “We ended up winning the game that day against Cary.”

But with a great triumphs sometimes comes disappointments. At the doctors office right after the Cary game he got some bad news. His right knee was dislocated.

“It almost felt like I had no knee, it hurt so bad,” said Parzygnat.

A knee brace was in need; it was all that Parzygnat wore for the next few months, even through the next season.

During the kickoff game of his sophomore year, with 20 minutes left, things got worse. His right knee was blown out again.

“I was just blocking and there was a lot of pressure on it,” said Parzygnat. “You can guess what happened next.”

At that point, there was nothing you could do but sit it out. So about two weeks after the game another trip to the doctors pursued. This is when he found out surgery was happening on his right knee in Oct. of 2014.

Shortly after in March during Raider Olympics season, Parzygnat’s left knee was blown out while the team was doing tennis drill’s in the before-school work outs, only confirming the doctor’s warnings.

“Justus Wood is really savage,” said Parzygnat. “He really coached everyone up after my injury.”

All was not lost with high hopes and friends behind you every step of the way.

“Wood really helped me get back into playing at a varsity level after two knee surgeries,” said Parzygnat.

So with a second surgery on March 18, 2014, along with three months of physical therapy, Parzygnat was right back into it again the summer of his junior year.

Parzygnat ended up finishing out the season 8-1 on the varsity football team, as a center.

“I love Huntley football and a big goal for me is obviously to be playing for a college,” said Parzygnat, “but Huntley will always have a place in my heart.”