Local teen recovering from surgery after collapsing due to blood clot and swelling in his brain

ARCO — Dillon Waymire is recovering in a Boise hospital after collapsing during a Friday night football game in Middleton.

The Butte County High School senior is a nose guard and guard for the team. He and his teammates were squaring off against the Kendrick Tigers, the defending state champions in the 1A division. It was the fourth quarter and Butte County was behind by 22 points.

Angie McAffee, Butte County High School’s Athletic Director and wife of the team’s assistant coach, tells EastIdahoNews.com Dillon collapsed about 30 seconds into the fourth quarter after tackling an opponent.

“He indicated to the coach that he needed a break. He went out and told his coaches he wasn’t feeling good,” McAffee says. “We initially thought he may have had a stroke.”

Medical staff gathered around and realized his condition was serious. They called an ambulance and took him to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.

Doctors eventually determined Dillon had a blood clot and swelling in his brain, and would need surgery immediately.

The surgery went better than expected, McAffee says.

As of Monday night, Dillon remains sedated at the hospital. McAffee says they’ll have a better idea about how Dillon is doing once he regains consciousness.

“We’re still playing the if game. We have to figure out the effects of what happened and how long it’s going to take for him to recover,” McAffee explains. “They want to keep him sedated until the swelling in his brain goes down. Hopefully, we’ll have our Dillon back.”

She is hopeful Dillon will fully recover because he’s reportedly putting up a good fight for his doctors.

“He’s on a ventilator right now and he doesn’t really like that. His mom says he thrashes around … which we’re really happy (to hear),” she says.

Dillon was involved in a severe car crash on the first day of school, and locals are worried this episode might be connected to that. On Aug. 21, EastIdahoNews.com reported a teen driving a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe hit a Volvo tractor-trailer pulling a milk tanker.

RELATED | Teen hospitalized in semi-SUV collision near Arco

It happened on Grand Avenue and U.S. Highway 20/26 at 3:44 p.m. McAffee says Dillon was headed back to school from work at the time. Dillon was trapped inside for “quite a while” and was airlifted to the hospital.

“He had quite a laceration on his face,” McAffee recalls, explaining there was an injury on his skull. “They were able to sew it up and fix it. He got released (from the hospital) two weeks ago. This was his second game back (on the field).”

McAffee describes Dillon as “a great kid” who is kind and always willing to help out. He’s a hard worker and never gives up, his coaches say, according to McAffee.

“He’s the all American kid you can rally around,” says McAffee. “He’s a good student. It’s really easy to get behind him and his family is really nice, too. They’ve been put through the ringer this year. They had some pretty significant medical bills from the very first (of the school year).”

Knowing what they’ve been through, McAffee felt compelled to do something. She launched a GoFundMe on their behalf Saturday. By Monday, it had exceeded the $25,000 goal. As of 10:30 p.m. Monday, it had raised a total of $37,220.

Many of Dillon’s classmates have donated out of their own pocket, McAffee says, and Kendrick High School has expressed support for Dillon by sharing the GoFundMe on Facebook.

McAffee is overwhelmed by the community’s response.

“I bet there’s probably $1,500 that have come from kids out of their own pocket,” she says, tearing up. “People that know him, go to school with him and play football with him. They love him and I think that is the neatest thing to see these kids reach into their own pockets and wanting to be a part of helping Dillon.”

The GoFundMe remains active and those who would still like to donate can click here.