Caddo Mills High School Athlete Receives Community Support After Concussion

Victoria Mendez, a Caddo Mills High School sophomore, suffered a concussion during her team's soccer game on Feb. 15. The Lady Foxes were in Mabank when Mendez collided with another player, fell on the turf, and hit her head.

“She actually jumped straight up, you know, like nothing happened, and then took a few steps. And after that, it was just kind of she stopped,” head coach Mike Campbell said.

The athletic trainers helped Mendez get to the sidelines.

“Once they got her off the field, she started having issues, blacked out,” Campbell said. “This was probably four or five minutes left in the game when this happened.”

Mendez was transported to a local hospital and later flown by helicopter to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Doctors determined she suffered a concussion that caused severe impairments.

Mendez was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. Known as FND, it is a post-concussion syndrome that can lead to unexpected symptoms.

“They tell her that it’s going to be with her forever, that she just needs to learn pretty much to teach her brain how to do things again, how to be able to walk,” Karen said.

Victoria was released from the hospital last week and will need daily outpatient therapy to learn to walk.

“She constantly asks when she's going to be back to normal. I tell her, ‘Mami, you're normal. You're you're good. We just need some time for you to get better soon’,” Karen said.

Doctors tell the Mendez family it could take weeks or even months for Victoria to take her first steps.

“She just beats herself up by not being able to walk, not maintaining her balance, not being able to, you know, just do her normal duties by herself,” Karen said.

Mendez admits her daughter is struggling with mental health.

“She hates to be by herself,” Mendez said. “All of her classmates have been such a blessing. They've sent her messages. They've given her notes and letters. She was always the pusher in the team telling everybody, ‘Come on. We got this. We got this.’ And having them do that to her, it's been amazing.”

Karen and her husband said they have a long journey ahead however are guided by the emotional and monetary support spearheaded by Coach Campbell and soccer teams across the state.

“We put a small goal out there, and it was reached in less than 12 hours, you know. And so right now, we were at the mark around $14,000 on the GoFundMe, but I know that it’s still not going to go very far when all those bills start rolling in,” Campbell said.

To support the Mendez Family, the Caddo Mills Baseball Team will host a benefit game Tuesday evening. All proceeds at the door will be donated to the family.

The game begins at 7:15 p.m. at 2700 Gilmer Street, Caddo Mills, TX directly behind the 'Ed Locker Stadium'.