Tia Reid is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon High School for AZPreps365.com

Life can change in an instant.

Stories about tragic incidents show how what’s here one day could be gone the next.

This is something that North Canyon High School outside hitter Lily Trehey learned in 2021, following a car accident in the spring of her sophomore year.

“I was the front seat passenger in a car, and we were turning left on an intersection, and [the other driver] wasn’t paying attention and completely ran into us going like 60 (miles per hour),” Trehey said. “…The back seat got pushed up against me, so the whole seat went forward, and the glove compartment pushed forward open, and the way that my leg was, it compressed it together, so the bone split out the side of my leg and was popping out… 

“It was my femur that I broke, like completely snapped it in half, and then I went to the hospital and got a huge metal rod in my leg, and now I have pins in my hip and knee.”

Trehey couldn’t walk for several months following the accident. When the time came for tryouts in the fall of 2021, Trehey was still rehabbing her injury and was not able to participate.

“Pretty much my entire junior year, I walked around with a pretty bad limp, enough to where people would look at me in the hallways weird, asking me if I was okay because it looked like I got beat up pretty bad,” Trehey said. “I struggled a lot. I couldn’t run, couldn’t walk normal. It hurt to move it at all. It was just a lot.”

Once a promising prospect in North Canyon High School’s volleyball program, Trehey spent a year away from the sport. She struggled physically and mentally during the rehabilitation process. 

Because of complications with insurance and lawyers following the accident, her family couldn’t afford physical therapy. Aside from practicing exercises at home, Trehey had little outside help in the physical healing process. It didn’t help that she and the people around her consistently tried to block out the accident and her injury.

“...Being on crutches at home was probably three to four months, and then I just didn’t want to be on them anymore, so I started walking and limping around, hopping on my leg, and tried to make the best of it, but I didn’t get physical therapy or anything like that,” Trehey said. “I kind of just pushed it off and acted like it didn’t happen…My family and friends, we all kind of just acted like it wasn’t there. I still did activities with my friends. We went camping, and we did all that stuff. I just pushed it aside and just did what I could do.”

In the classroom, Trehey experienced a noticeable shift in attitude and character. Varsity head coach Kinsey Pease is also a staff member at North Canyon. She spoke with Trehey often about her recovery, even when she wasn’t playing volleyball. From the person she was last year to who she is now, Trehey has grown a lot, according to Pease.

“She’s struggled,” Pease said. “I mean, she’s been through it these past couple years with this injury…I know mentally she was just so frustrated that she wasn’t able to play the same, and then that affected her off the court, like schooling…Last year when she was going through it, she had started to have attendance issues and wasn’t showing up as much to school, but this year, it’s been like night and day.”

Junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant Deb Peterson had Trehey as a student last year amid her struggles. Not only did she witness Trehey’s transformation, but she also routinely checked in with Trehey during the recovery process.

“After her accident, you could definitely see a personality change with her,” Peterson said. “She stopped coming to class. She went from being a straight-A student to really starting to struggle in the classroom, and you could tell that that was definitely more of a mental health struggle than an ability struggle for her.

“This year…she’s one of my best students. She’s always on top of it. She knows what she’s doing. She helps other people out. She aces almost every single test…”

As Trehey’s junior year came to a close, the Rattler’s volleyball staff wondered if Trehey would make an appearance at tryouts next season. Pease regularly spoke with Trehey to figure out where her head was concerning getting back on the court.

“Oh, we had a lot of conversations,” Pease said. “We had a lot of conversations last year. I wasn’t really sure if she would come back or not. In the spring, I had definitely encouraged her to after she had started getting better and was cleared to start doing things. I had kept encouraging her to come back, and she was really unsure on what to do.”

However, after more tough conversations, by the end of the school year, Pease was confident she’d be seeing Trehey at tryouts come fall 2022.

Now a senior, Trehey was set on overcoming the new challenges handed to her. She wanted to play volleyball again. She wanted to be back on the floor with her teammates.

When tryouts came around, Trehey rose to the occasion. Not only did she make the varsity team for her senior season, but she also showed improvement from her promising freshman year, beyond what coaches could have expected with the accident.

“When she actually came in this year, she was better than she was as a freshman, of course, but it was almost natural ability better, to where, coming in [as a freshman], she was just taller,” Pease said. “[Now] she was smarter. She knew more about the game as she had grown up…I would say that was definitely the biggest factor in her improvement, was being smarter about the game rather than her actual physical skill.”

Trehey’s improved volleyball IQ, combined with her adapted physicality, has allowed her to be a staple on the court for the Rattlers this season.

She is a starter for North Canyon and plays plenty of valuable sets for her team. Trehey currently ranks third on the team in kills with 47. She’s also fourth on the Rattlers’ leaderboard when it comes to serve receptions with 60. 

“She does really well front row, just because she’s so consistent,” Pease said. “She can’t jump as high as she could, but fortunately, with her height and her control ability, she’s really good about putting the ball in the court, which is just what we need on the outside.”

Trehey’s on-court success has been pivotal in her transition off the court and in the classroom. Since finding her way back to volleyball, Trehey has improved mentally and in school, according to Pease.

“She had struggled in school for a while, but she has turned everything around,” Pease said. “I have her in class now, and she’s been doing so well…She’s motivated again because she’s finding success on the court and in the classroom, so I feel like her motivation has kind of come back full force, and it’s like a totally different person.”

Due to the severity of her injury, Trehey is still not back to 100%. She is still dealing with long-term complications from her injuries and surgeries.

“My knee still won’t bend all the way backwards, so sometimes diving for the ball really sketches me out because I don’t want to touch the floor at all, or I hesitate when jumping because I’m afraid that if I land too hard on my leg, it just stings,” Trehey said. “Sometimes it’ll get sore and very sensitive when moving around. My hips are uneven now because my leg is like a half-inch shorter than the other one, so I have back problems and stuff. 

“Bending all the way down or simple exercises, which is really annoying, like doing lunges, stuff that involves my thigh and my knee are, not painful, but uncomfortable. It’s just a constant uncomfortable feeling.”

Even with the long-lasting consequences, Trehey is impactful on the court. Her presence is also a valuable boost to team morale.

For players and coaches at each level, Trehey provides lessons and inspiration that run deep throughout the program.

“I think a lot of the girls in this program also look up to her,” Peterson said. “But being able to watch her go through something so terrible and horrible and watch her struggle with it – it affected friendships, relationships...her classroom, her performance on the court – and being able to turn that around so quickly too after being in such a low low, and now being on top of such a high high, and watching her these last four years in the program become a better person because of it has been inspiring to me and a lot of her teammates.

“I think she is just such a beacon of light and positivity, which is something I’ve always struggled with, being optimistic in the worse situations. She’s been able to do that over and over and over again. Even in her lowest lows, she was always trying to put a smile on for everybody else. She’s just really selfless and really optimistic, which has always been amazing to watch.” 

Although North Canyon’s season is over, Trehey made sure to cherish her last few moments on the court with her coaches, teammates and friends. Pease is happy that Trehey returned, allowing this core group of seniors to have the opportunity to enjoy their final season all together.

“With her, I am really grateful she played this year because this group of seniors has been really close for quite a few years now, and I definitely feel like she just rounds out that group of girls,” Pease said. “I think that they’re really grateful that she’s toughed it out for them because she’s been friends with them, so it’s just been really good to have a solid group.”

As for Trehey, she’s learned a lot from the accident. With all that she knows now, she’s come a long way. Getting to play her senior season is a source of great pride for Trehey.

“(I learned) That you shouldn’t take things for granted and that the things that you enjoy the most, you might not even realize that you enjoy them until it’s taken away from you,” Trehey said. “It definitely gives me a purpose to be here, which I feel sometimes we forget why we’re playing, but I definitely have pride. I’m proud of myself for overcoming that obstacle…I’m definitely proud that I am where I am right now with my leg.”