Teen Survives Brain Injury to Become Championship Wrestler

Daylin Toms

(The Register Herald) – Daylin Toms has loved sports since he was a toddler. Through the years, the sport that emerged as his favorite was wrestling.

He picked up the sport at age 4, and as the years went on he was giving the best wreslers West Virginia had to offer at his age group a run for their money.

But on Aug. 11, 2014, wrestling was taken away from Toms, and he was unsure he would ever get it back. At the age of 13, Toms contracted HSV Type 1 encephalitis, which is usually associated with cold sores. In Toms’ case, the virus made its way through his naval cavity, causing a mass infection in his brain.

He was supposed to be getting ready for the first day of football practice. Instead, he and his family found themselves preparing for a nearly monthlong hospital stay — and that was just the beginning. CONTINUE