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PHOENIX, AZ (KTVK/KPHO) — Number 40 and 33. The Eagles and the Stallions. Justin Leingang and Brahm Luyt may play football for competing high schools, but one necklace will now forever connect them.
“It was a good game, a very hard-fought game,” said Justin on Wednesday afternoon. He goes to Shadow Ridge High School in Surprise. “And then I got hurt and that was pretty scary. And that nice young man gave me his necklace.”
That nice young man is Brahm, and the necklace features Saint Christopher. Brahm says it’s the saint of protection and his mother gave it to him for his birthday a few years ago. “I just saw him like, go down. And it was kind of a block and he got thrown on his neck,” Brahm told Arizona’s Family.
Under the bright lights last Thursday at Sandra Day O’Connor High School, the junior varsity teams faced off. The stands fell silent when Justin was hit and didn’t move. He had a neck injury.
“Oh, your heart just drops,” said April Luyt, Brahm’s mom. “I mean it doesn’t matter who it is, you are just so worried that that player is gonna be OK.”
Days later, Justin is OK and a little sore. Brahm had the necklace on the field and wanted his rival to have it. “As a football player I can kind of understand how detrimental an injury can be. And I can understand, you’re very alone during that time,” he said.
Justin’s dad and sister were by his side on Thursday while his mom, Gina Leingang, was away for work. It turns out she carries the exact same saint on a coin from a friend.
“I travel for my career and she gave it to me to protect me as I’m on the road all the time,” Gina said. “And I never leave home without it.”
She broke down in tears when she found out about the gift and tried to find the family on Facebook. “We teach our sons to do the right thing. We teach them to do the best things out there. It’s the sportsmanship. It’s so much more than the football game. Being a teenager is hard, being a 16-year-old boy is hard,” she said.
Brahm’s mom was very proud of her son. When April saw him walk up to the emergency responders on the field, she wasn’t sure what her son was doing but had a feeling it was the necklace.
“Empathy is something we are lacking in today’s world. It’s not really caring about anybody else, but just thinking about ourselves,” she said. “So my husband and I have tried really hard to show by example.”
Some plays transcend sports and this was a reminder that even though they’re on separate sides they’ll always be in one big, football family.
“I think God gave that to me to give to someone else so now it’s fulfilled it’s purpose for me,” Brahm said.
“I’ve worn it every day since I got it,” Justin added.
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