Disaster struck Homecoming King Ryan (Ray) Siebert, ‘18, on October 7, 2017. Having the time of his life at the dance, he was suddenly lifted and delightfully began crowd surfing.  Joy turned to anguish for himself and his peers when he was dropped unceremoniously on his noggin.

Everything was going great with Ray eight feet in the air and regally soaring like a king over the seniors.  Trouble started to arise when he was handed back toward the underclassmen who promptly dropped him on his head.  Ray thought, “Oh, my God! What is going on? I can’t believe that just happened!”  Contrary to the rumors that spread immediately, Ray did not suffer from internal bleeding, nor was he knocked into a coma, and he certainly was not dead.

What did happen was that the deans rushed out to the dance floor, the music stopped, a circle was cleared around Ray, and an ambulance quickly arrived.  After lying on the ground for a few minutes, Ray shakily got up to the applause of his fellow students and made his way to the ambulance before heading straight to the hospital.

Because he never passed out, Ray was not tested for a concussion.  Nevertheless, he has talked to medical professionals and they all agree that he suffered a concussion since he is experiencing all the textbook symptoms of headaches, dizziness, and mental slowness.  As a result, he must remain in areas of low light and sound and avoid taxing physical activity until his symptoms clear up.

It was eventually discovered that senior Kevin Jarvis had the initial idea of lifting up Ray for his joyride.  When asked how he felt after the incident, Kevin remarked, “Ray went from being on top of the world to the bottom of the dance floor, and for that I am sorry.” Kevin regrets what happened to his good friend since it was never his intention for that to happen to the beloved Homecoming King.

The last person supporting Ray before his fall was the slender 5’5” sophomore Kylie Rico.   She had been promptly abandoned by everyone around her and was left to single-handedly bear the full weight of the king.  Kylie noted, “I tried so hard to hold him up but, with everything that was happening around me, I just couldn’t do it.”

Senior Maryn Shinaberry, Homecoming Queen, had to reign alone after Ray left in the ambulance. Maryn confessed, “I was so scared when I saw him fall and sad to have lost my Homecoming King.” When the Court began their spotlight dance, Maryn had to improvise and find a substitute king, Connor Coughlin. Although Connor and the Homecoming Court enjoyed their spotlight dance, no one could quite fill Ray’s role as the adored Homecoming King.