OFF THE BENCH Lane Smith is one of the most athletic players in Southeast Ohio despite being blind in one eye STORY BY JOEY MADORE | PHOTOS BY JAE SMITH
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ederal Hocking High School senior guard Lane “I think he cried for maybe 30 seconds to a minute,” Smith lives for the game, whether it is the rhythm Smith says. “And then he looked at his father and said ‘We’ll of the basketball, the energy of the crowd, the shoes beat this.’ And he’s beat it. He had a great outlook from the squeaking on the floor, or the surge of adrenaline time it happened, more than most kids ever would at that that comes from a great steal, move or basket. age.” The game remains the same, but the way that Smith experiences it changed after an accident in eighth grade. His right optic nerve was severed, leaving him blind in his right eye, but Smith was determined to get back to playing as soon as possible.
Smith does not allow his condition be a roadblock. Instead, it motivates him to work harder. Smith’s love for basketball and his mental toughness allowed him to get backoutonthecourtandstartplayingthefirstweekh released from ICU.
“I was never really worried that I would not play ever again,” Smith says. “I always had great people surrounding me and coaches who helped me get through and adapt.”
“I’ve always thought of myself as a positive guy,” Smith says. “I always look at the positive side, and even with my eye, basketball is still what I love to do, and I was not going to let anything stop me, and I have not since.”
From the second Smith learned that he would not be able to see in his eye again, Jennifer Smith, Lane’s mother, says it did not take long for him to adopt a positive outlook. BELOW Smith poses next to the logo at his high school’s gym.
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The sport presents challenges with how moving parts are involved, and blindness in one eye adds to the degree of diculty.Smithhadtomakeadjustmentsandretrain.
