Returning to the Field

It was a game you didn’t want to miss. A night of rivalry in Callahan, Florida. The West Nassau Warriors vs. the Baldwin Indians. Fans made their way to a soccer match-up that left players eager to put cleats to turf. The whistle blew and the game began.

For Milo Sidlo, a junior at the time and student-athlete for West Nassau High School, it was a normal game — until it wasn’t.

“It was toward the end of the game,” Milo said. “I jumped up and my head hit his shoulder or his head and I just walked off the field.”

Milo and a player from the opposing team collided.

“I just knew I had a concussion,” Milo said.

With helmets not part of the soccer uniform, the audible noise of the collision caught soccer coach Jonathan Eason by surprise.

“I didn’t see the impact but I heard it,” Eason said. “And it got my attention really quick. He (Milo) walked over and said he couldn’t hear and I pulled him off.”

Expert Care on the Sideline

Anthony “Tony” Marra, MS, LAT, ATC, a UF Health athletic trainer and sports medicine expert with more than 35 years of experience, immediately tended to Milo. He’s one of four athletic trainers in Nassau County that work with student-athletes – a partnership with UF Health and the Nassau County School Board.

“Our job is to prevent and educate,” Marra said. “Be there for rehab injury evaluation, expedite athletes to our orthopaedic or sports medicine staff for evaluations with X-rays or MRI. Or get them to our urgent care facility. We choreograph everything between the parent the coach and our staff of doctors.”

Marra began his evaluation using the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 6, or SCAT6, and Association of International Credential Evaluators, or AICE, methods.

“He passed that pretty well,” Marra said.

After an exertion test, Milo complained of “whooshing” in his ear. A telling sign.

“He got struck in the temporal region, which is the softest part of the skull,” Marra said. “The most important things are there your balance and equilibrium. The organ of the ear is right there.”

In the stands, Corey Sidlo, Milo’s dad began to make his way to his son.

“Something told me I needed to be at that game,” Cory said. “I’ve seen Milo get jarred around a bit in sports. You just know when something isn’t right.”

A Critical Warning Sign

Shortly after, “Blood came out of his ear,” said Marra. A sure sign that he needed urgent medical attention.

Corey rushed Milo to UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care Center — New Kings in Jacksonville. Milo was treated by Justin Nippert, DO, a UF assistant professor and medical director of UF Health emergency and urgent care centers at the Baymeadows and New Kings locations.

“Milo’s case is a perfect example of how our facility is supposed to work,” Nippert said. “You have cases that are minor or more severe. Any case can come through our facility. We see them urgently, make a diagnosis, and then facilitate treatment. That might be being discharged home, staying here for treatment, being transferred, or admitted to the hospital for treatment.”

Comprehensive Care

From the New Kings location, Milo was transferred to UF Health Jacksonville’s Level I Trauma Center. “You could tell this wasn’t their first rodeo. You couldn’t ask for better folks,” Cory said.

There he was treated for a concussion, three skull fractures, and a blown eardrum. Milo stayed in the pediatric intensive care unit for two days before he was discharged.

Milo recovered well and felt ready to get back to life as usual.

Care that Never Quits

Fast-forward to a year later, the care team at UF Health Jacksonville reached out to the Sidlos to check on Milo’s progress. They discovered that a year after his initial incident, he’d had a car accident.

“A very similar thing happened to the right side of his head,” Corey said. “A fractured skull, damage to the ear.”

He was treated at another hospital but an access issue landed him back in the care of the UF Health physicians. And for the second time, their high-quality care made the difference.

“They did a really good job taking care of me,” Milo said.

Now in his senior year of high school, Milo has made minor adjustments because of his injuries. While improved, he still struggles with hearing, sitting at the front of his classes to get instruction. Although he is cleared to be back on the soccer field, he has limited playtime. Despite his many challenges, Milo remains determined, planning to attend college in Jacksonville and continue playing the sport he loves — soccer.