Thomas Dillard: The Road to Recovery to Play Baseball Again

By Kelyn Bosley
IMC 390 student

Thomas Dillard with a double. Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Thomas Dillard has had a hallmark week in Hoover, Alabama, and while his future looks bright, it has not always come easily to Dillard. Baseball Farm projected Dillard to be a top 30 pick in the 2019 Draft Class. However, six years ago a severe football injury in high school made his future playing any sports seem bleak.

Dillard has come back stronger than ever.

As a lover of sports, Dillard played a number of sports growing up, including football, basketball, soccer, golf, and most importantly, baseball. Starting at age 3, baseball has always been a major part of his life. That all changed when he was 15-years-old.

Dillard was playing linebacker during a high school football practice when he went up for an interception and his teammate’s knee hit his stomach. Unbeknownst to Dillard, his small intestine was just ripped from his stomach. Thirty minutes passed before he was taken to the hospital. He recalls not knowing what had just happened to him.

“I just thought the breath got knocked out of me,” Dillard said.

After spending four hours in emergency surgery, Dillard woke up in the clear with a 9-inch scar running down his abdomen. His immediate concern was never being able to play football again.

After a few grueling weeks, Dillard was transferred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Dillard and his family knew that with Le Bonheur’s extensive resources, they had the best shot of helping him to recover as quickly as possible.

Dillard’s support system during his hospital stay was comprised of friends and family, but most notably his father. His dad helped him in more ways than he can name, but one thing his father did to help speed up the recovery process was making him protein shakes to regain the 37 pounds he lost.

Seven months later, Dillard’s father also helped him to get back in the batting cages every day in order to prepare for the next baseball season.

When it came time to get back to practice, the multi-sport athlete knew it would not be an easy feat.

Dillard understood he would be healthy enough to play again; he just did not know when. He knew the first few months of practice he would not be at the same level he once was, so he had to ease into it and build himself back up. However, nothing could stop him from achieving his goal of getting back in the game.

Six years later, Dillard looks back on the lessons he learned from his injury. He recalls taking his first steps onto Swayze field as an Ole Miss Baseball player being one of the most rewarding experiences, especially after all it took him to get there.

Dillard said one of the main lessons he learned during this accident was not take anything for granted, and that any moment on the field could be your last.

As a junior, Dillard is now draft-eligible after the 2019 season. In the second week of the 2019 season, he was named both SEC player of the week and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.

Dillard plans to enter the draft after this season.