RALEIGH- “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up,” are the famous words once said by NC State coaching legend Jim Valvano in his fight against cancer.
At NC State those words can still be seen and heard around campus among coaches and student-athletes, as those seven simple words are still inspiring and motivating 23 years later to those living the Wolfpack culture.
For one student-athlete, those words are the foundation of his nine-month journey to recovering from multiple brain surgeries and earning an Olympic Trial cut. Rising redshirt junior Matt O’Donnell of the swimming and diving team defines the culture that NC State embraces, as his story is one of adversity and gratification.
His story began in May of 2015 when he was working out and felt something in his neck “snap.”
“I finished the lift and went to practice and my neck was really bothering me. I went to the training room, had three trainers look at me and they said I needed to go to a doctor,” explained O’Donnell.
“I saw a bunch of doctors but eventually ended up at Duke with Dr. Herbert Fuchs, and he knew exactly what was going on. The shunt that was in my neck had broke and after running a bunch of tests it had appeared that I didn’t need it anymore.”
At six months old O’Donnell was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is a condition that causes fluid buildup in the brain. The shunt that O’Donnell has helps to properly drain the fluid.
In September of 2015 O’Donnell had his first surgery, which was to take out the shunt. Everything seemed fine as he tried to resume his normal schedule of academics and swimming at NC State.
“A month later I had really bad headaches and felt awful all the time. I went into the training room to let the staff know. They called Dr. Fuchs at Duke and he told me I had to go in immediately for emergency surgery to have the shunt put back in because one of the ventricles in my brain had leaked,” said O’Donnell.
Since his second surgery in October of 2015, the road to recovery for O’Donnell was one of pain, fear and uncertainty.
“There was a period of time that I wasn’t sure if I was going to swim again because I had been through so much and missed a lot of school. I just didn’t know how my body was going to recover from having two super intense surgeries in a short period of time,” said O’Donnell.
“I talked to Braden (Holloway), Gary (Taylor), the athletic training staff and the doctors at Duke and they said I could swim, but that it would take time to get back to the level of training that I was at.”
In November of 2015 O’Donnell was cleared to test the waters again. He slowly paced himself and gradually regained his endurance and ability to train at a high intensity once again. Throughout his difficult journey, he credits the strong support system that he has at NC State.
“Everyone I was surrounded by was and is unbelievably supportive. Without my teammates, coaches and trainers nothing would have been possible. My professors were really flexible and willing to help me so that I didn’t fall behind too much, and gave me the extra time that I needed while I recovered. I progressed a little everyday and it was nice for them have my back.”
Until recent weeks leading up to the GCY Sprint and Distance Classic in Greensboro, N.C., on the second weekend of June, earning an Olympic Trials cut was never in sight for O’Donnell. With the encouragement of the Wolfpack’s coaching staff, his mindset towards the possibility of qualifying for Trails became more realistic.
“It was just nice to be swimming again and not feel like I was going to die. It was nice to just be back in the water but towards the end of the school year I started training at a much higher level and thought I could possibly have a shot,” explained O’Donnell.
“My coaches agreed that it was possible. They told me I had put in the work from the second I was able to get back in the pool until now and that they believed in me.”
In his last race of the weekend inside Greensboro Aquatic Center, the 200m backstroke, O’Donnell posted a career-best time of 2:03.59 to earn a berth to Omaha.
“It was amazing; I was ecstatic. It was surprising just because of everything that’s happened, but I was super excited and was on cloud nine for the next few days,” said O’Donnell.
As the Olympic Trials will take place June 26-July 3 inside the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb., he is excited to take in the experience with his teammates that will be traveling with him.
“Technically there is a possibility that I could make the Olympic Team, but I’m just really glad that I made it and want to go faster at Trials. I definitely want to go there and do my best.”
Looking ahead to the 2016-17 season, the rising redshirt junior is excited that he can once again travel and compete with his teammates, and be part of the success that NC State will look to continue in the postseason.
“By the time the school year rolls around I’m going to be ready to get back in the water to help us three-peat at the ACC Championship and hopefully compete for an NCAA title.”
NC State contributed this report.
very interesting,story, as I to have hydrocephalus, was a swimmer in California for the special olympic team of my high school, Was not able to do gymnastics in fear of my shunt messing up, I did miss a lot of school, due to shunt revisions, so i can relate to your story. Right now I donot do alot of the things id like in fear of a problem with my VP shunt
Hi, I’m new i recently found out I had hydrocephalus and I am right now six months postop from a VP shunt surgery.I just started to work out and I chose swimming and back in the day I used to be a competitive swimmer however in fear of messing up the shunt I wanted to know do you guys still dive and flip turn? I want to but I’m so scared and I don’t know anyone or have anyone I can ask these questions to😩