Peyton DeLisio went through more in 11 months as a middle schooler than most people go through in a lifetime.
The Olmsted Falls senior is a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball, but there was a time it was all taken away from him.
“I think it has definitely matured me as a person,” DeLisio said. “That’s a lot at a young age, but I put my head down with the mindset that no matter what, the grass is greener on the other side. Just trying to work and be really focused on your goal at the end of the day. One step at a time.”
In the beginning of 2018, DeLisio was limping around playing basketball and it was thought to be a knee issue. Later on in May, he was diagnosed with a hip lesion after getting an MRI. It’s a rare condition where an area of the bone was withered away. The lesion was fortunately found on accident, and he had surgery two weeks later.
Fast forward to the following April at a baseball practice at T3 Performance in Avon. DeLisio was back and ready to go playing sports, and his team was working on bunting drills. He collided with one of his teammates, fractured his skull and had to get emergency surgery. That included brain surgery to make sure there wasn’t any further damage.
He missed the rest of the baseball season and his eighth-grade football season, but he was able to return to basketball in the winter of 2019-20. The rehab process was difficult, and DeLisio said the mental aspect was much tougher than the physical. He made it back to playing sports despite a hard path.
“For me, it was trying to wake up every day and find a reason to keep pushing,” DeLisio said. “My reason was to make sure that my siblings knew that no matter what, everything is going to get better. They were a big motivator for me. Obviously, as a middle-school kid, it was hard. It made me mentally tougher, and I matured physically and mentally.”
Olmsted Falls boys basketball coach Chris DeLisio has seen many athletes over the years come up from his time going to school and coaching here. He has seen the different challenges teenagers face, but this time it was up close and personal with his own son facing a traumatic injury.
“As a family, I think we’ve always tried to do a good job of finding the positives and the next. This definitely tested our ability to do that,” Chris said. “… As much as Peyton went through, I’m just really proud of him. Obviously there’s a pride as a dad, but there’s a pride as a coach.
“When you watch the kids that you coach and what they do and go through, every kid is trying to overcome some obstacle. To watch Peyton play with the effort that he plays with after everything that happened, I’m just so proud of him.”
Peyton plays basketball. He still plays catcher in baseball. He played safety in football. He hasn’t shied away from contact and like his father mentioned, he plays hard with full effort. If there’s a loose ball, he’s on the floor. There’s no hesitation despite the injuries he has been through.
Being a leader means something to Peyton. He hasn’t felt sorry for himself once through this journey, and he hopes others follow in his footsteps by working hard.
“I’ve never really played sports scared,” Peyton said. “I’ve always been a big believer in if you’re going to do it, you should do it to the best ability and as hard as you can. … Finally after all of those years, just getting to be with the guys and creating relationships (was great).
“At the end of the day, it’s not an individual legacy that you want to leave, it’s a great team legacy. As a team, we’ve built those relationships and tried to set an example for a lot of people younger than us.”
Peyton and Chris spoke highly of the support system in their corner. Peyton said he couldn’t have done any of this without them. Chris couldn’t thank the Olmsted Falls community enough for its support during those hard times.
Chris is proud of how his son has overcome all of these obstacles, and he really wanted to have this story out there for perhaps another kid who is trying to find their reason to keep pushing to get back into sports.
“One of the reason you love sports is the life connections of the lessons that you learn as an athlete that help you go into life,” Chris said. “When you see young kids thrown into that, it’s reversed. How can I life situation guide them through sports in that moment? Usually, it’s vice versa.
“It was no different for Peyton. He had to find a way to be a productive member of the teams he was on despite not being able to play. (We thought about) how he can find a role as a leader and be an extra set of eyes for his coaches.”
Despite the circumstances, Peyton pushed through and has taken the best from it. He’s currently playing a big role on the basketball team as a starter, averaging 5.9 points per game and leading the team in 3-pointers.
With the rest of the basketball season and baseball season coming up this spring, he’s on track to finish his career on a good note. Looking back to over five years ago, he had to overcome a lot to get there.
“At this point in my life, it’s almost something that I’m grateful for,” Peyton said. “In all honesty looking back at it, you hate it in the moment and it’s really terrible, but I’ve overcome it and grown from it. It gave me a fearless mindset of no matter what happens, everything’s going to work out just fine.”
