By Guest Columnist Ricky Swindle
Howdy, friends!
That’s how my column begins in our hometown newspaper, The Panolian, and I reckon there’s no better way to start this one.
My name is Ricky Swindle. I’m the owner of a 51-year-old family tire store in Batesville, Mississippi, and I freelance write for The Panolian as a hobby. For twenty years, I also hosted a Saturday radio program called The Local Yokels Show, where I played nothing but Mississippi artists, whether they were famous or not.
I’m pretty involved in my community, too. I’m a member of the Batesville Civitan Club, Panola Lodge No. 66 F&AM and a Wahabi Shriner. I’ve spent plenty of time at the Wahabi Temple in Jackson, so you might say I’ve made a few friends along the way.
But this past Friday night, October 9, I was six hundred miles from home, visiting my Grandheathens in Fischer, Texas. That’s what I call my grandchildren, and, by the way, I’m the only one who gets to call them that!
I was at Canyon Lake High School watching my 16-year-old Grandheathendaughter cheer for the Canyon Lake Hawks. Meanwhile, my oldest Grandheathenson, Levi Hughes, was playing football for North Delta Academy in Batesville against Canton Academy.
I couldn’t be at Levi’s game in person, so I was watching it on my phone while keeping an eye on the action in Texas. That’s when I noticed North Delta’s linebacker No. 42 was having trouble.
That was my boy, Levi Gunner Hughes.
I watched his mother and father standing on the sideline, and I knew something wasn’t right. I tried to call and text, but there was no response. Here I was, six hundred miles away, and one of my Grandheathens was down. There wasn’t a thing I could do but pray for Levi.
A few minutes later, one of our school principals, Nikki Mills, called me.
“Mr. Ricky, Levi is down, and an ambulance is on the way to take him to UMMC,” she told me. She said my daughter Jennifer would update me as soon as she could.
Jen later told me about the trainers, coaches and medically trained folks who came out of the home stands to help our boy. She said that all you could hear throughout that stadium, on both sides, were prayers being sent up for No. 42, Levi Gunner Hughes.
Players, cheerleaders and coaches from both teams were praying. Even the game officials joined in.
Now, folks, just let that sink in for a minute.
These were people from Canton, Mississippi, many of whom had never met my Grandheathen, asking the good Lord to put His hand on him. They weren’t worried about which team was winning. At that moment, they were worried about a young man who needed help.
Jen also told me that Canton’s head coach was standing near Levi’s feet. He told him, “42, we know exactly who you are. That’s why we didn’t run the ball your way all night.”
Levi is an intense player, and that coach had noticed. He told Levi they were proud of him.
The medical folks on the sideline feared he might have suffered a serious spinal injury. But those prayers never stopped.
After a battery of tests at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, the doctors couldn’t find a broken or damaged bone in my boy’s body. They had initially been concerned about several possible injuries involving his spine and vertebrae, but those fears did not materialize.
Levi did suffer a concussion, and he will have to follow the protocol prescribed by his doctors. But, Lord have mercy, it could have been so much worse.
My daughter told me, “Daddy, that was a miracle in that stadium. Levi was in a bad, bad way, and by the time he got to Jackson, he was OK.”
Now, I know there are different ways folks look at things like this. But you aren’t going to convince our family that those prayers in Canton didn’t mean something. We believe the good Lord heard every one of them, and we are mighty grateful.
In the days since the injury, the kindness has continued. Canton’s headmaster, coach and game officials have reached out to Jennifer to check on Levi. The headmaster told her that night, “Whatever that young man needs, we are here for him.”
That means a lot to this old boy.
You can learn a lot about a community by watching how its people treat someone else’s child when that child is hurt. Canton showed us something special that night. Those folks care about those young people, whether they’re wearing their school colors or somebody else’s.
Canton, Mississippi, you have a whole lot of folks in Batesville who appreciate you.
Levi will follow his doctors’ instructions and complete the concussion protocol before making any decisions about returning to football. With only two regular-season games remaining, followed by the possibility of the playoffs, Friday’s injury could bring his high school football season to an end. We’ll take things one day at a time and let the doctors guide the way.
And, let me tell you something else about this Grandheathen of mine.
He’s a good kid, folks. One of his teammates, Walt Sanders, broke his leg in two places a couple of weeks ago on a play involving Levi. Jennifer told me Levi said to her yesterday, “Momma, I prayed after Walt got hurt, and I asked the Lord, if anyone else has to get hurt, let it be me.”
That’s the kind of heart this boy has.
He made a 33 on his ACT, and he’s receiving college interest from schools as far away as Yale University. We figure he may wind up being a Rebel and staying just twenty minutes from home. Football is fun for him, but academics are serious business, and we couldn’t be prouder of that.
Whatever happens on the football field, Levi has a bright future ahead of him. We’re just thankful he’s here to keep working toward it.
I’ve always closed my Panolian columns with the words, “Take care of yourself, folks.” Sometimes I add a little something about taking care of your neighbor, too.
This time, I want to thank a whole community for doing just that.
To the players, cheerleaders, coaches, officials, school administrators, medical personnel and everyone in that Canton stadium who stopped what they were doing to pray for my Grandheathen, thank you. Thank you for caring for a young man you knew as an opponent on the field but treated like one of your own when it mattered most.
On October 9, 2026, Canton, Mississippi, showed this family what compassion, kindness and faith look like. You gave a worried grandfather, six hundred miles away, a reason to be thankful beyond words.
Canton will always hold a special place in our hearts.
God bless y’all.
And, as always, take care of yourself, folks.
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