555: The Athlete

It was on the day that Cal Brockway hit his 63rd home run that his world changed forever.

Cal was the finest athlete Central High had ever seen. Not only was he an an excellent baseball player, but he lettered in football, track and field, swimming, basketball, rugby, soccer and LaCrosse.

But on the day that he hit his 63rd home run everything changed.

That afternoon he was helping his dad at the saw mill, and there was a small accident. Cal fell into a buzzsaw. His left leg was severed at the hip, his left arm was hacked off at the shoulder, the left side of his head was chopped off and the left side of his torso was removed.

In short, the entire left side of his body was chopped off in a buzzsaw.

Most people would have been utterly destroyed by such an unfortunate circumstance, but not Cal. He was a force of nature, and he wasn’t about to be slowed down by something as small losing half of his body. He kept running track, throwing footballs, hitting home runs and scoring goals, almost without a hitch.

Even missing half his body Cal was still the finest athlete Central High had ever seen. Upon graduation, the school bestowed a special honor on him. To this day there’s a banner in the hallway at Central High, paying homage to Cal Brockway; Half-American.

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