Caleb Langdon of Milton looks to make a pass against Hughesville at Hughesville High School Saturday. The teams drew in double overtime, 2-2. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The day started like any other this past spring at Lock Haven University’s annual Bald Eagle High School Classic. Milton’s Caleb Langdon, then a sophomore, was warming up in the pole vault area to compete in the boys pole vault competition, hoping like everyone else to increase his PR and be near the top of the area finishers.

But what should have been a routine competition turned scary fast.

While the Black Panther was preparing to compete, Langdon’s pole vault suddenly snapped.

Part of it flew 50 yards away and landed out of harm’s way. But, as Langdon fell to the mat, the other part of his pole struck his back, causing him to get hurt. The initial concern was that Langdon possibly suffered a broken rib.

An ER visit nearby in Lock Haven determined he had no broken bones however and he was sent home.

What should have been good news though turned into something no parent would want to experience as Langdon’s pain grew worse and he began vomiting multiple times before starting losing consciousness.

It turned out that Langdon had a tear in his spleen from the pole vault, causing fluid to build in his abdomen. The Black Panther track and soccer standout had his blood pressure plummet, eyes roll back and he lost consciousness.

It was more than a frightening time for Langdon’s parents, who were dreading hearing the worse from the medical team at the hospital.

Langdon’s vitals would end up being stabilized and he moved to the ICU as his condition improved and he got better. The medical team that saw Langdon felt that the prolonged bleeding and vomiting aggravated the already ruptured spleen, causing it to get worse and force the ER visit.

Langdon not only was a solid pole vaulter, but a talented soccer player and he was hoping to get back onto the pitch with his teammates this fall. After the spleen tear, Langdon stayed in the hospital for a bit and would experience a lengthy recovery thereafter.

It was a five-month journey with the hope that he’d not only get back into a black and orange jersey, but be able to compete once again and be a contributor for the team.

In the last week of September, Langdon finally got the news he was hoping for: he was cleared to play again.

“It’s one of those things where we worried about it going into it, like you said, back in the spring when that happened, we were game planning for this season and just planned to not have him at all,” Milton boys soccer coach Ayde Welch said. “Then having him back and at full strength? It was like a blessing because we planned, things are weird and not sure what you’ll get out of it. But he’s healthy and we’re happy to have him. he’s really been a key part of our offense.”

Langdon entered against Danville and within two minutes, he found the back of the net and scored. You couldn’t script a better return after such a scary injury if you tried to.

For Welch, he’s glad to have a playmaker like Langdon back on the field and contributing minutes.

“He’s one of those guys who wants to play and compete so bad that you’re like worried that you’re pushing him too far because he’s like ‘yes, I want to go I’m ready.’ He always wants to play. From my perspective, you want to make sure they are ready. He came back first game against Danville and came back for 1 minute, 15 seconds and scored,” Welch said with a smile. “He’s such an impactful player that it’s good to have him back and he has that will to just go, you know?

“With that injury, that was not a great phone call to get and I know it’s been a real challenge to get him back,” Welch continued. “He went through a lot of trials with that, but he seems to be doing good and he’s clearly being able to compete at a pretty high level. It’s good to have him back and conquer that challenge.”

Langdon was in for last Saturday’s game against Hughesville for majority of the contest, playing both in the midfield and forward and trying to get things to happen.

Needless to say, Langdon’s teammates, his coaches, his parents and Langdon himself are glad to be healthy again and playing soccer.