At just 19 years old, Jayden Broome had a promising future mapped out in front of him. A rising rugby player in New Zealand, he had already captained a regional team and built momentum in his athletic career. Like many young men his age, he was focused on growth, achievement, and the next big opportunity.
Then, at just after 10 p.m. on September 8, everything changed.
Broome had climbed onto the roof of a student dorm to take a photo when he slipped and fell, crashing onto the sidewalk below. The fall left him with a traumatic brain injury, a broken pelvis, fractured shoulder blades, and a ruptured spleen and liver. Looking back now, he understands just how close he came to losing his life.
“That has definitely played in my head, the fact that I could have died… [But] I’m alive, I’m here, and I’m on the improve now,” he told the Southerland Tribune.
For a month, Jayden could not speak. Though his mind was functioning, his body would not cooperate.
“Mentally, to be fair, in the first month or so when I couldn’t talk, I was quite depressed,” Jayden said. “People would come and visit, and I couldn’t talk. I could function in my head, and I wanted to say stuff, but I couldn’t butt into a conversation on me. I couldn’t add my point of view, because I couldn’t talk.”
“Everyone knew I was trying to talk, but I couldn’t get the words out. That was quite hard.”
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A tracheostomy valve was eventually inserted in his neck to help him communicate, and it remained in place for about three months. For 115 days, he also could not eat and was fed through a tube that ran through his nose to his stomach. Doctors initially believed he might only recover to 75 percent of who he once was. Now, he should fully recover.
His story is a powerful reminder that human worth is not determined by strength, productivity, or independence. Even in a hospital bed, unable to speak or eat, Jayden’s life carried the same value it always had. A brain injury did not diminish his dignity. A long rehabilitation did not make him less worthy of care or hope. Every human life, at every stage and in every condition, possesses inherent value simply because it is human.
Yet one of the hardest realities he faced was not physical. It was the realization that he would never play rugby again.
“I’m not going to play rugby anymore. To be fair, for three months when I was in the hospital, I was saying I’m going to come back. I’m going to be the guy who went through a brain injury and came back,” Broome said.
“But when I sat down and thought about it, I thought, ‘ Is it worth it?’ The worst thing that could happen is that I could die on the field from a head knock; it is not really worth it. I want to be Dad and Grandad, and travel around one day.”
In a culture that constantly encourages young people to prioritize ambition, fame, and financial success, Jayden’s reasoning stands out. He walked away from a dream many young athletes spend their entire childhood chasing. He chose not to risk further damage to his brain. He chose not to gamble with his life for applause or recognition. Instead, he chose the possibility of fatherhood and grandfatherhood.
“That was a hard conversation to have with myself. I definitely did cry.”
There is something deeply pro-life about that decision. It reflects a recognition that life is not only about personal achievement but about the generations that follow. Jayden’s desire “to be Dad and Grandad” reveals a long-term vision that values family, love, and the gift of children. It is a quiet but powerful rejection of the cultural narrative that treats children as optional accessories to a successful life or obstacles to personal fulfillment.
A recent Pew Research study found that while 57 percent of young men say they want children one day, only 45 percent of young women say the same. For years, young adults have been encouraged to focus primarily on career and personal goals, often with the reassurance that having children can always happen later. Yet biology does not guarantee that opportunity indefinitely, and Life itself offers no guarantees at all. Jayden’s accident makes that clear.
Nearly losing his life forced him to confront what truly matters. When faced with the fragility of his own existence, he did not double down on chasing athletic glory. He did not measure his future solely by trophies or titles. Instead, he envisioned holding his children one day and eventually meeting his grandchildren. That perspective affirms something foundational to the pro-life worldview: that Life is a gift meant to be cherished, protected, and passed on.
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