Mansfield Patch's Whiz Kid of the Week: Ken Barsomian

A Mansfield High School football player faced the biggest challenge of his life after fracturing his leg in the last junior varsity game of his junior year.

Senior Ken Barsomian has been playing football since eighth grade. He plays linebacker, tight end and special teams. He remembers the date he broke his leg very well. It was Nov. 21, 2009 on kickoff.

“I was attempting to tackle the other player and I planted my leg,” explained Barsomian. “When I turned, it twisted and that’s when it snapped.”

What he thought to be a sprained ankle turned out to be much more. X-rays showed that the leg was severely fractured and, while waiting in the emergency room, Barsomian’s situation worsened.

“While in the emergency room, I developed Compartment Syndrome," He said. "[CS] basically tears all the muscles and tissue in my leg."

Compartment Syndrome is a raised pressure within the compartment of the leg or arm that can lead to nerve and muscle damage. In some cases, amputation is required. Barsomian was rushed to emergency surgery when the doctor became aware of the complication.

Barsomian’s mother, Diane Barsomian is a nurse and knows the dangers of Compartment Syndrome.

“I knew the chances of him having his leg amputated were high and that really scared me,” she said. “The doctor said if he hadn’t done it within 30 minutes they would have had to amputate it.”

Surgeons performed a fasciotomy, in which the sides of Barsomian’s leg were sliced open to relieve pressure. They were able to close one of the incisions, but the other required more surgery and skin grafts to close it.

Barsomian was confined to a wheelchair for seven weeks after the surgeries were complete.

“I missed about two months of school," Barsomian said. "During those two months, I spent the time rehabbing.”

He spent another month rehabbing after his return to school. It was the biggest challenge he has ever had to face and his family was behind him all the way.

“It was up to him,” said Diane Barsomian. “I wasn’t going to force him anyway, but I wasn’t going to let him give up either.”

Barsomian did not give up on his daily rehabilitation and he miraculously returned to the football field for his senior year with the team’s motto, “Never surrender,” in the back of his mind.

The stars aligned for Barsomian when he recovered the football on special teams during the team’s Superbowl comeback. Because of his incredible drive and strength in the face of severe difficulty, Barsomian’s coaches nominated him for the Courageous Player Award.

“I didn’t know about it until our football banquet and the coach mentioned that he nominated me,” said Barsomian.

He was selected by the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association as one of five recipients of the award this year. He will be honored on April 30 at Lantana’s in Randolph.

Barsomian cannot believe all that has happened since that day in November 2009.

“I still can’t wrap my mind around it all.” he said.

His family is overjoyed that he was able to get through this so successfully. His mother was receiving texts during the Super Bowl game from her entire family who were all watching it on television. They still get emotional when they talk about it but they are thrilled that he pushed through to a full recovery.

“His father and I always say, ‘if you can get through that, anything in life is not going to be as bad,’” said Diane Barsomian.

Barsomian is attending Curry College in the fall where he plans to focus on academics.