Bigfork coach helps Libby soccer player overcome losing a leg

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

Last February Libby boys soccer player James Schnackenberg was hit by a train and lost his leg. At the time his doctors told him that he would never be able to play again, but last week, just eight months later, he helped his team win the Class A State Championship.

"Winning state was icing on the cake," Schnackenberg said. "I was able to not just sit on the bench, but I actually got to start and play most of the game. I wasn't just there for moral support, but I actually got to help my team win the championship. My hard work paid off."

He may have been helping his team in his defender position at the state tournament, but one would guess that after the road he traveled to get there that he contributed with some moral support as well.

"It makes you feel good to know that you can work that hard and be able to do something like that," he said.

The hard work he speaks of was no small ordeal either.

"It was really hard at first because I went from being a really good soccer player to having to start all over from the beginning," Schnackenberg said. "I had to learn to kick and run and everything else again. It was really challenging. I had to teach myself because no one else could really do it for me."

Schnackenberg started playing soccer when he was six years old, and when he found out that his doctors were going to have to remove his leg he said that his first thought was that he would never get to play soccer again. The doctors agreed that would probably be the case, but Schnackenberg, who was 16 at the time, wasn't going to give up on his favorite sport that easy.

"I set my mind on getting back to playing and never really looked back," Schnackenberg said. "There were points when I got down, but I just kept going. There was never really a question about whether I wanted to come back, it was just a matter of whether my body would let me."

When Bigfork High School physical education teacher and basketball coach Jim Epperly heard about Schnackenberg's accident, he decided to share his own experience of losing a leg. Epperly lost his right leg below the knee, the same as Schnackenberg, as a result of bone cancer when he was 13 years old.

"I think it was good for him to see someone that had been through a similar situation, played sports, dated girls and just lived a normal life," Epperly said.

Despite wearing a prosthesis Epperly went on to play sports in high school. He was actually the first student in Montana with a prosthesis to play a sanctioned high school sport, and a Montana High School Association rule was created about artificial limbs based on Epperly.

"I think that if you are a survivor that you try to give back the love and support that you received," Epperly said. "That's how I got through it. I was happy to do it for James."

This isn't the first time that Epperly has counseled people with problems similar to those he had to overcome. He has gone to hospitals over the years to talk with cancer patients and people who have lost limbs. Epperly said that he told Schnackenberg that "You are who you are and you do the best you can."

Since the accident Epperly has met with Schnackenberg a handful of times, and was happy to see him play against the Vikings in Bigfork this season. He credits Schnackenberg's deep faith and positive attitude for his ability to recover so quickly. Epperly had a quick recovery himself, having lost his leg in June and returning to the football field that September.

Schnackenberg appreciates knowing that there is someone who had quickly bounced back from losing his leg and was able to live a normal life.

"It was comforting to meet someone who had a similar thing happen," Schnackenberg said. "It was nice to know that he had gone through the same kind of thing and been successful. He told me that he had actually been able to overcome it and do normal things. He wasn't just saying that maybe it could be done. He was able to say that he had done it."

Schnackenberg had other help in his rehab as well. His parents supported his decision to try to return to soccer, and his mom drove him to his many doctors appointments in Kalispell. His brother returned from college and helped him learn to run again and to challenge himself. Many of his friends on the soccer team supported his return to the field. Goalie Lewis Brossman often stayed after practice to help him re-learn to kick the ball.

"It really helped that my team was really cool about it," Schnackenberg said. "They joked around with me about it a lot. And when I had to take it off or stop playing because of it they didn't stare at me or look down on me at all."

Though Schnackenberg, who is junior, has taken back his position as a starter for the Loggers, he still is facing some challenges on the field.

"I can't accelerate as fast as everyone else," he said. "I can't kick as hard or as accurately as I used to. I had to switch from being a right footed kicker to a left footed kicker. It was really difficult to re-learn."

He said he still uses his right leg to pass the ball, but otherwise kicks with his left. He has also had to adjust his playing time on the field to accommodate taking care of his prosthetic leg during games.

But despite his situation, Schnackenberg said that most of his opponents don't even notice that he is wearing a prosthesis.

In addition to his return to soccer, he is also planning on attempting to return to his favorite fall and winter sports of snowboarding and hunting.

"Emotionally I set a goal for myself," Schnackenberg said. "I think had I not set a goal it would've been harder for me. When the doctors told me I wouldn't be able to play I set out to prove them wrong and prove to myself that I could get back to doing the things I normally did."