Paschal Makes His Inspirational Return
Josh Paschal shed a block, pursued the ball carrier and took him down to secure a third-down stop for his team.
This time a year ago, in the midst of a promising freshman campaign, that kind of play was commonplace. Now, after everything Paschal has been through, it was the most emotional one of the season.
“It felt good just to wipe some dust off finally,” Paschal said. “It’s been a while. It felt good just to know that we’re back at it right now and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Paschal, three months after a diagnosis of malignant melanoma, made his triumphant return to action at Kroger Field on Saturday. He logged just that one tackle as UK withstood a Middle Tennessee comeback bid for a 34-23 victory, but Paschal is back.
“It meant a lot to me,” Paschal said, “just because of where I was a couple months ago and how God has blessed me with opportunities and a support staff and Big Blue Nation and everybody just to lift me up and just to keep me going to get to the point where I am right now.”
Even when he couldn’t play through three months of ongoing treatment and three surgeries, Paschal was an inspiration to his team. The Cats closed every team huddle with “JP on three” in his honor, while also supporting offensive line John Schlarman in his own battle with serious illness.
“The first time I saw it, I teared up a little bit just because I wanted to be out there with them but also just because the team means so much to me and I mean so much to them,” Paschal said. “It’s a brotherhood around here, so that meant a lot to not only myself but just to see the support that Coach Schlarman had also. We’re a family around here, so I loved it.”
When Paschal returned, he only became more inspirational.
“It was unbelievable just for him to be out there right now coming back from what he had. He worked extremely hard,” Josh Allen said. “Every day, he came in and worked extra, did more than everybody out there. My last home game, I wouldn’t want to take it with anybody else.”
A couple weeks ago, it looked as if Paschal might play sooner. He was working to get back on the field for the Georgia game, but that didn’t end up happening.
“He was trying to come back a few weeks ago and just the foot was bothering him and in different, from where he had the surgery,” Mark Stoops said. “And that really disappointed him because he was ready to go a few weeks ago, trying to get back for the Georgia game, I want to say, and just wasn’t ready.”
That disappointment didn’t last for long.
Paschal continues to count on the support of his family, teammates and the Big Blue Nation. Thanks to his mother and sister, his room is now covered with scripture verses that steels him in the toughest moments.
“I knew that I couldn’t follow my plan,” Paschal said. “I had to follow God’s plan for me. You never know what God’s plan is, so you have to keep going harder and harder every day and do the things necessary to get to this point.”
Paschal is still undergoing immunotherapy treatments and will continue to through next August, but now he has football back. His teammates couldn’t be happier.
“The stuff that he went through, I don’t know if I could go through it. You never know. You gotta be in his shoes,” Mike Edwards said. “But he’s a tough, tough person. Tough player, tough person. On the field and off the field. That’s definitely big. Him going out there and making plays like that after what he went through, that’s definitely big.”
