Two days after a terrible car accident sidelined soccer star Toni DeVaney, GSHS coach Jason Thompson made a deal with her that they both intended to keep.

Devaney is a key ingredient of the Gulf Shores Dolphins girls soccer team which Thompson coaches, and a member of the All-Baldwin soccer team.

In mid-February, just two days after DeVaney had signed a letter of intent to play college soccer for Mt. Olive College in North Carolina, her car was struck head-on as she was on her way to a soccer game. Samara Santos, 20, the driver of the other vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and it took rescue workers over an hour to pull DeVaney from her car.

The Pain

DeVaney was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola with a seemingly endless amount of injuries: two broken femurs, a broken left tibia, a complex ankle break which includes the ankle and both of the bones connected, and a broken left humerus.

Despite the fact the she is now sporting pins the entire length of both of her thighs, another pin the entire length of her left tibia, and that her right ankle is presently held together with plates and screws, she wants to play soccer again.

And for all practical purposes, it appears that DeVaney is already ahead of the game.

The “Dolphin” Family

On Friday, her parents Scott and Laurel DeVaney, along with Thompson, her teammates, and a number of classmates watched as DeVaney got out of her wheelchair and walked into the Gulf Shores High School library to sign her scholarship. The courageous DeVaney was greeted with cheers, tears, smiles and applause.

“This is a culmination of your high school career,” said Gulf Shores principal Ernie Rosado. “An athlete always wants to go to the next level. There was a little bump, we got through it, the Lord helped us, and congratulations Toni. Remember, we are all a family here.”

Worried that, due to the extensiveness of her injuries she might lose her scholarship, no one was sure what would happen. But the Division-II Trojans decided to honor their offer to DeVaney.

She will be red-shirted in the fall and will continue her rehabilitation with Coach Matt Hisler.

“This day means everything to us,” Laurel DeVaney said. “After the accident we were afraid she had lost her scholarship, but they said they were going to keep her.

“She is doing great with her rehab here and so we will see how it goes.”

The Miracle

Fellow teammate and team captain Sarah Bosarge was thrilled for Toni and said that the progress they have already seen is nothing short of miraculous.

“This day means the world for Toni.  Soccer is her life, her love, her heart, and for her to be at this point today is a miracle.”

But as miraculous as it may seem to others, Bosarge and her teammates don’t seem to be too surprised.

“She is already a month ahead in her therapy,” Bosarge said “and we are all just really proud of her. There is no doubt in my mind that Toni will play soccer again. She may not play soccer the same way, but she will play soccer again, and she will be great at it.”

The Optimism

Toni DeVaney is a determined athlete, and her sights are set high, despite the setback.

“At first, my therapist said that she didn’t think I would ever be able to be back and play, but with the progress that I have already made, I am going to be able to do it,” said a hopeful DeVaney. “It’s just me having to stay with all of my exercises and keep up my strength and flexibility.”

DeVaney, who rehabs at Encore in Gulf Shores, says that at times her tasks are painful and challenging but that she doesn’t try to think about it because she knows that every little step of progress she makes will help her in the long run.

The Promise

So what exactly was the deal that was made between Coach Thompson and Toni DeVaney?

“About two days after her accident, I was at her bedside in ICU and we made a promise to each other that she was going to make it through this and that she was going to play on the soccer field again, and I still believe that,” Thompson said.

“It has been awesome to see this recovery take place the way it has, and to be a part of it all, well, I just can’t wait to see what is going to happen in Toni’s life.”