FRILLS CORNERS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — For three weeks, Tristian Sliker could barely move.

He wasn’t permitted to leave his home. He wasn’t allowed to do much of anything, really, as his broken neck healed.

Those three weeks seemed like three years.

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The North Clarion senior tried to fill the time the best he could. He did schoolwork. He played video games — lots of video games. He read comic books. He also cracked open a few novels and found that he enjoyed reading more than he ever thought he would.

Through the pain and boredom and monotonous days that seems to merge into one, he was grateful.

Happy to be alive. Happy the terrifying car accident on an icy road in early January wasn’t as severe as it could have been.

Relatively speaking, Sliker walked away from the crash — in which his car flipped and was totaled — as a lucky young man. Even though the days and weeks that followed were an ordeal for the basketball and baseball player for the Wolves, he never lost sight of that.

“I don’t even honestly know what was going through my mind at the time,” Sliker said. “I was just kind of like, ‘Yeah. This is not good.’ I was in disbelief. I was like, ‘This is crazy. I wrecked my car. This is crazy.’”

Sliker was heading to work on January 9 when his car hit a patch of ice while going down a hill, and he lost control of it as it was sliding and spinning toward an embankment. When it hit, the car rolled onto its side, and Sliker briefly lost consciousness.

When he came to, he crawled through the broken windshield and spilled out onto the shoulder of the road.

Just as he was wiggling his way out of his car — broken glass, mangled metal — a PennDOT driver rolled past him and noticed the accident. He called 9-1-1 and help arrived swiftly.

At first, doctors diagnosed Sliker with mere whiplash, as well as a few cuts, bumps, and bruises.

It didn’t take long for him to know something more was wrong.

“In my mind, I wanted it just to be whiplash,” Sliker said. “I kind of had the feeling it wasn’t.”

A week passed with Sliker in excruciating pain. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t bend his neck. Finally, a CT scan revealed the extent of the damage — his C5 vertebrae was broken clean through.

“The doctors were surprised I was still kind of okay after going a week with a broken neck,” he said.

His head was immediately immobilized in a large brace.

When he went home, a cruel reality struck him that was perhaps more painful than his broken neck.

His basketball season was over.

Sliker was a starting forward for the talented Wolves before that fateful January day. He was playing well and so was the team.

“I accepted the fact that I probably wasn’t going to touch a basketball again,” Sliker said.

Sliker was determined to still help the Wolves, who will play District 6 champion Bishop Carroll in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday in Ebensburg.

Once he was cleared to go back to school, practices, and games, he spent every moment he could with the team. He sat on the bench next to the coaches, encouraged his teammates, and did everything he could to help from the sideline.

(Tristian Sliker wears a neck brace on the bench during a District 9 playoff game at Clarion University)

“We lost Tristian on the court, but we didn’t ever lose Tristian,” said North Clarion coach Ewing Moussa. “That shows a lot about who he is. He never checked out. He was still at practices. He was still at games. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him. He found a way to lead from behind, and that’s the kind of kid he is. He’s a heck of a teammate, great guy. He’s what you want all your guys to be.”

It was still difficult for Sliker to be around his teammates and not be able to join them on the court.

He set that out of his mind. He found ways to mend his disappointment, to contribute more than a steal, rebound, or clutch basket ever could.

“I love this team. I love every single guy on this team from the freshmen to the seniors that I’ve played with,” Sliker said. “I will do as much as I can to help them out. I just wanted to be involved. Helping the younger guys has been satisfying. I’m just trying to pass things on to them so that they’ll do well next year and continue the tradition of North Clarion basketball.”

Sliker’s accident affected him more profoundly than most.

His parents, Joshua and Jessica Sliker, were in a severe motorcycle accident in August. Both nearly died. As he was sliding out of control down that icy hill, he thought of their ordeal.

They are still recovering from their injuries — his father, a shattered hip and kneecap; his mother, a shattered pelvis, and a severe concussion. Between them, they have had more than 100 surgeries since the accident.

Sliker’s grandparents and younger brother, Connor, helped him through his recovery.

Sliker has shed the big brace and the smaller one he most recently wore. He should be ready to go for baseball season, where he is an infielder for North Clarion.

When he looks back at the two devastating accidents that have happened to his family in the past nine months, Sliker is thankful.

He sees things differently now.

“It’s taught me to definitely value the time that you have, not only in life, but the small stuff like basketball,” Sliker said. “I guess I didn’t really value it until I lost my basketball season. It taught me to definitely look at things from a different perspective. Life can be taken away in a split second.”