JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com 

Penn Manor football team supporting Ron Reis, who is suffering from viral encephalitis

I spent Tuesday afternoon over at Penn Manor’s football practice, getting to know Ron Reis, his mom, Amy, and his little brother, Devon. Ron is battling viral enchephalitis on the front lobe of his brain. You won’t believe what this kid has gone through since June. Here’s his incredible story …

Ron Reis couldn’t take the pain anymore.

The headaches were absolutely unbearable and his legs throbbed.

It was this past May, and in a matter of days, Ron’s life changed forever.

The pain was so excruciating that he pleaded with his parents — Ron Sr. and Amy — to let him quit the two true passions in his young life: football and the Boy Scouts, where he was working toward earning his Eagle Scout merit.

A workout buff, Ron had a terrific summer in the weight room, and was poised to crack the starting lineup for Penn Manor’s varsity football team this season — his senior season with the Comets.

But the massive headaches and the agonizing leg pain intensified in early June, and he was having a hard time coping.

“He finally said to us: you don’t understand. I can’t take it anymore,” Amy said. “That’s when I knew this was huge.”

Huge was just the tip of the iceberg.

It happened quickly. In less than a week, Ron went from having leg pain and headaches to not being able to talk — let alone controlling everyday bodily movements and functions.

After a trip to the emergency room, doctors sent him to Hershey Medical Center, where he was placed in quarantine in the pediatric intensive care unit.

He had blood tests, urine tests and a spinal tap. He couldn’t communicate. He was dehydrated. And just when it seemingly couldn’t get any worse, Ron lost the ability to use his lower jaw and he couldn’t swallow.

Doctors tried several times to insert feeding tubes, but he yanked them out. At one point, Ron didn’t eat for 20 days in a row — absolutely no nourishment at all.

And to top it off, his kidneys failed for five days.

“That was the worst,” Amy said. “He wasn’t drinking at all. It was really, really bad.”

That’s when doctors finally found the diagnosis:

Viral encephalitis of the frontal lobe of Ron’s brain, an infection which was causing inflammation and affecting blood flow to and from his brain.

“The doctors said that because we’re from this region of Pennsylvania, he could have gotten this from a mosquito bite,” Amy said. “But they have no idea.”

Amy said they went on a Boy Scout camping trip last May.

Viral Encephalitis can cause long-term problems, like trouble with speech and memory. That’s exactly what Ron is dealing with.

On the outside he looks like your typical 17-year-old high school boy; full of playful energy.

On the inside, he’s trying to cope with his brain injury; struggling to communicate and take care of himself.

He spends a lot of time with his little brother, Devon, an eighth-grader in the Penn Manor School District.

Ron, who will turn 18 next week, has a tough time communicating. He can say “mom” and “dad” and he can name a couple of the guys on Penn Manor’s football team, mostly by their jersey number, and he remembers that he wore No. 61 when he played for the Comets.

His eyes lit up Tuesday when the team took a break from practice and came racing over to the sideline to greet Ron. There were plenty of high-fives and hugs all around.

But Ron doesn’t remember anything prior to checking into Hershey Medical Center in mid-June.

He’s basically learning everything again, for the first time. And because his brain isn’t functioning properly, Ron can’t sleep; he needs medication at the end of the day to help him get rest.

“Total shocker,” said Penn Manor senior two-way standout Cody Booth, who has been friends with Ron since grade school. “Never saw this coming.”

Ron has been an inspiration to Penn Manor’s football team, which roared to a 7-0 start before falling to Warwick last Friday night. He’s a fixture on the sideline every Friday night, and he’s in school during the week with his mom, who is his personal care assistant.

“He’s there every Friday night, and everyone high-fives him,” Penn Manor senior Mike Treier said. “When I look at him it puts everything into perspective; I realize that this is just a game.”

Penn Manor will honor Ron during halftime of Friday’s game against Wilson at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium in Millersville. He will also be introduced with his teammates before the game.

And to help Ron and his parents with medical expenses, before and during Friday’s game against Wilson, and again the following Friday before and during the Comets’ home game against Cedar Crest, the Manor Pride Gridiron Club will be passing around Penn Manor football helmets to collect any and all donations for Ron and his family.

Donations can also be made on those two nights at the ticket gate.

Ron’s last CT scan produced some good news — the infection in his brain is gone, but he’s still got a pretty long way to go, all things considered.

“He will come back — it’s just a matter of time,” Amy said. “The swelling is gone. He just needs to have his brain bounce back.”