Update on Estes and Merino posted to social media by their respective families:

Estes Update:

10/20/2024 Updates:

Estes Family Social Media Update:

7:00 am: "All the scans have came back good with no changes. He can move his arms and legs and pull himself up and lean up good. They have taken the collar off and he is so happy about that. They will also try to get him up to walk today and see what deficits he will have to work out. They will hopefully see about getting him into another room out of the ICU today also."

8:00 am: "Kylei is up and walking. Praise the Lord!"

10/19/2024 Updates:

"Latest update is the CT came back good and waiting still for the MRI results.

"He has some slow and weak movement on his left side but still very little on the right side but thankfully he does have very small movements in his right fingers. He is fixing to be moved into the ICU for further observation."

New update: "They just came in a little bit ago and said it can still be a spinal cord injury with out showing up on scans but it majority of the time heals on its own some and a lot of that time completely heals."

"He is having some more movement and involuntary movement on his right side but still not a lot of feeling on that side. But he's still improving. And flirting with the nurses being Kylei's typical goofy self when he's awake. He's seeing what paid medicine does for him and getting that good sleep. He is determined that he's playing football Friday night."

Merino Update:

10/20/2024 Update:

"My family are so, so appreciative of all of the prayers, calls, and messages on behalf of Andrew and our family. Yesterday evening around 6 he asked without prompting about Kylei. We were all ecstatic. He woke up at 10:30 this morning and he has finally quit asking the repetitive questions. We are finally out of the cognitive loop. He is still upset and frustrated that he can't remember why he is hurting. Still doesn't remember playing a football game, but he is showing good progress."

"Thank you again from our family to everyone in this wonderful community for caring about my boys. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude."

10/19/2024 Update:

"Andrew has a severe concussion and has short term memory loss and is on a recurring loop of the same questions over and over. Doctor said that he should start improving in around 48 hours. They did a CT and praise the Lord no brain bleed or swelling."

Continue to lift both players and families up in prayer.

The Friday night football game between the Belmont Cardinals and Kossuth Aggies ended with 21 seconds left in the third quarter after Belmont player, Sophomore Kylei Estes suffered a potentially serious injury during the game.

Estes, a standout player for Belmont, went down hard causing immediate concern from all who witnessed the play.

Some in attendance took to social media, reporting everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and began praying for the player.

Jack Ivy Broadcasting, who broadcasts the games live, also stopped reporting the game and prayed for the player on the broadcast.

Emergency personnel responded to the scene. After being examined by medics, Estes was transported by ambulance to a nearby facility before being airlifted to Memphis for further medical evaluation. As of now, the full extent of his injuries remains unknown.

A second Belmont player, Senior Andrew Merino, was airlifted to Tupelo, it is believed he sustained a concussion during the game.

This sudden incident has shaken the Belmont and Kossuth communities and those in attendance. During this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers go out to Kylei, his family, the other injured player, his family, and the entire Belmont and Kossuth football teams.

We will update as information becomes available. We want to respect the privacy of the families during this time.