Payton McNabb, a promising high school athlete with dreams of playing collegiate sports, had her aspirations tragically cut short during a volleyball match on September 1, 2022. The game took a devastating turn when a male athlete competing as a transgender player on the opposing team struck her with a forceful hit, resulting in severe and lifelong injuries.
In an opinion piece for Fox News, McNabb’s mother, Pamela McNabb, recounted the heartbreaking details of that day and the ongoing challenges her daughter faces.
“My daughter, Payton, was struck in the head and neck by a spike from a transgender-identifying male on the opposing team, causing her to lose consciousness and lay in a fencing position on the gym floor,” she wrote
“We later found out she had suffered a traumatic brain injury, leaving her partially paralyzed on the right side of her body and unable to speak or see clearly,” Pamela McNabb wrote.
Once a star athlete with aspirations to play softball in college, Payton, now 17, struggles with basic physical and mental tasks as a result of the injuries she sustained. Her mother’s piece highlights the profound consequences of the incident, raising broader concerns about fairness and safety in women’s sports.
“Seemingly overnight, Payton began to struggle with everything. She suffered from debilitating head and neck pain, couldn’t drive, and had to be assisted in school as she worked to relearn basic cognitive processes,” her mother wrote.
“When she would have moments of clarity, the fear in her eyes of what was happening to her mind and body was too much,” she continued. “She had gone from excelling at everything she ever did to struggling to brush her own hair.”
“All of her hopes and dreams, all of her hard work in the classroom and on sports teams, all of the sacrifices she made to chase her dream of playing softball past high school — all of it was gone.”
This case has reignited debates nationwide about the policies governing transgender participation in school athletics and their impact on female athletes.
