Lourdes’ soccer team, Katy Puig are this year’s Miami Herald Courage Award winners
The Miami Herald’s Leo Suarez/Walter Krietsch Courage Award salutes individuals in the high school community who have exhibited extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.
The Lourdes soccer team and their captain Katy Puig have been showing such perseverance for the past 10 months.
Tragedy struck at the heart of the Bobcats’ program, and their school as a whole last September, when team captain Puig was seriously injured last summer in the Florida Keys in a boating accident which also claimed the life of Lourdes student Lucy Fernandez and injured several others, including Puig’s teammate Coco Aguilar.
The incident left the school and its tight-knit soccer team shaken and in mourning. Lourdes athletic director Maura Herholz described the time as “gut-wrenching.”
But the Bobcats banded together, supporting Puig and her family every step of the way, and not only played their season but made another run to the state tournament in DeLand before falling one win short of another championship.
For their resilience, Puig and the Lourdes soccer team are this year’s recipients of the Herald’s Leo Suarez/Walter Krietsch Courage Award.
“As a coach and just as a human, you never want to see this happen especially to such a strong individual,” Lourdes coach David Fique said during the soccer season. “Her way to fight through adversity and be positive makes her an amazing human being who cares for others big time. We just want her to recover.”
Puig, the 2021-22 Miami Herald Class 7A-5A Girls Soccer Player of the Year, sustained severe injuries in the crash, which also left student-athletes from nearby schools Carrollton and Westminster Christian with minor injuries.
Puig spent months in hospitals and underwent multiple surgeries. She later underwent rehabilitation first in Jacksonville, where she was transferred to last fall, and more recently in Miami.
During that time Puig and her parents, Kathya and Rudy, experienced a huge outpouring of support not just from Lourdes and the South Florida soccer community, but nationwide.
Artists such as country music star Zac Brown, actor Kevin James, soccer icon David Beckham and the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Erik Spoelstra all reached out or sent messages of encouragement to Puig during those first few months.
A GoFundMe page started for Puig has since raised over $600,000 to help pay for the family’s medical bills.
“It’s meant the world to all of us and we never imagined the amount of people, places and churches that have been praying for Katerina,” said Puig’s mother, Kathya. “It’s just crazy how this girl that we adore has touched so many lives. She has an unbelievable group of girls supporting her.”
For Puig and her family these days, it’s all about “small gains.”
Puig was finally able to go home from the hospital this past April, but still undergoes rehabilitation therapy 2-3 times a week at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
But recently, Puig made a huge stride in her recovery.
As she had hoped to do, Puig was able to attend her high school graduation on May 25 at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center.
Puig, who still has not regained full mobility and is still unable to speak according to her parents, sat in a wheelchair during the ceremony. But she was able to point and form a heart with her hand while interacting with her teammates and fellow seniors.
“We couldn’t talk her out of going. We had no say in it,” Puig’s mother joked. “It was a beautiful night. This was the first time she had been somewhere that wasn’t home or the hospital or the rehab (center) and she did great.
“She was very calm and didn’t seem overwhelmed at all, which is what we were worried about. She was just taking in the whole thing.”
Throughout the season and since, Lourdes’ players and coaches have continuously shown their support, often offering to help with even the simplest things like cooking a meal for her or just offering to spend time with her while continuing to pray for her recovery.
During the season, a game was held at UM against Carrollton in her and Fernandez’s honor. Lourdes players wore her No. 19 and the phrases ‘Katy Strong’ and ‘Love Like Lucy’ on their jerseys during the season.
Aguilar, who broke a bone in her arm in the accident, recovered and earned Miami Herald Player of the Year honors this season.
She, Rebecca Sampedro and goalkeeper Gabriella Paredes all grew up together with Puig.
They made it a point to document everything she missed on the field. The team bought a GoPro and recorded numerous moments and live streamed games so that she’d be able to see them from the hospital when she was able.
Led by Aguilar, the Bobcats powered their way back to the state final before losing to Gulf Breeze in the Class 6A championship game.
But just playing and competing hard was something they felt they needed to do for their ailing teammate.
“I’m just struggling for words right now, this is a really tough moment,” Aguilar said after the state championship match. “I think we all gave it our all, total effort out there but for whatever reason it just didn’t happen and didn’t end the way we wanted it to end. But I’m proud of my teammates for getting this far and wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”
