Fairbanks High School Senior Nathan Combs is pictured holding seven casts that he has worn as a result of injuries throughout his lifetime, along with boots, braces and crutches he has used. Despite a plethora of injuries, Combs maintained perfect attendance from Pre-K through 12th grade.
(Photo submitted)
—
Nathan Combs is pictured at 9 years old with two casts after having his bones set following a fall from a backyard zipline at a friend’s birthday party. Although doctors originally scheduled surgery for the first day of third grade, Combs was able to have both arms set on the Sunday prior so he could keep his perfect attendance streak going.
(Photo submitted)
—
Whether a concussion, orthopedic surgeries or even falling off of a zipline got in the way, Nathan Combs never wavered in his commitment to not missing a day of school.
“I always expected myself to do it,” he said. “I believed in myself the entire time.”
After many obstacles, Combs will graduate from Fairbanks High School with perfect attendance from Pre-K through 12th grade in a few weeks.
Angie Combs, Nathan’s mom, said it’s been a 15-year-long journey since her son decided at three years old that he would never miss a day of school.
She said it began after Nathan missed a session of a play group at church to visit family in California. He was “so mad at me,” Angie said, and told her that day that he wouldn’t ever be absent again.
“I kind of brushed him off at first,” she said. “After a while, I started to think he might pull this off.”
Angie said her son has been “really lucky when it comes to illnesses,” and has stayed healthy throughout his education.
But, he was still in and out of hospitals through much of his schooling because of a myriad of injuries and surgeries.
Nathan’s first major injury occurred when he was 9 years old, only two days before he was supposed to start at Fairbanks after transferring from Trinity Lutheran.
At a friend’s birthday party, he fell off of a backyard zipline and broke both arms.
When the doctor in the emergency room scheduled surgery for that Monday, Angie said Nathan began to cry – not because of the pain of two broken arms, but because he would miss a day of school.
“The surgeon was like, ‘Wait a minute,’” Angie said with a laugh.
Thankfully, Nathan’s perfect attendance streak continued because Angie took him to Nationwide Children’s Hospital on Sunday, where they were able to set both arms without surgery. He had one cast up to his shoulder and another up to his elbow.
“I was the new kid at school with two broken arms,” Nathan said.
The trend continued long beyond third grade, Nathan said, noting that his senior superlative was “Most Injury Prone.”
During the summer after his freshman year, he tore his ACL playing baseball.
As if that wasn’t enough, he was already scheduled to have his wrist reconstructed following another sports-related injury.
Angie said she worked with doctors to rearrange things, given the knee surgery had to come first so that Nathan could still use his wrist to help him get along with crutches. They scheduled his first knee surgery for the original day of his wrist surgery, then he returned to school only a week after his wrist surgery.
His first day of third grade wasn’t dissimilar to sophomore year, when he showed up with a cast on one arm and his other arm using a crutch – in his words, “like a crippled pack mule.”
“People thought I got hit by a car over the summer,” he said.
After that first day back, he felt so exhausted that he “just passed out asleep on the couch,” but he said he still never doubted that he could maintain his perfect attendance streak.
“It’s just an expectation I have, to be here,” he said.
Angie said Nathan spent that entire year going to physical therapy an hour before school started and going to more sessions after school.
He experienced knee complications that led to two more surgeries, totaling four orthopedic surgeries just throughout high school.
Angie said she “had to do a lot of begging” to schedule doctor’s appointments after school and rush Nathan to Columbus for specialized appointments.
“I have to tell doctors, ‘You don’t understand, my kid doesn’t miss school,’” she said.
Nathan didn’t even give up on his goal after a baseball injury that left him with a concussion, whiplash and a knocked out tooth.
Angie said he went to school with sunglasses on and battled through the pain until he could go to the dentist the next day after school.
Beyond just perfect attendance, Nathan stayed involved with National Honor Society, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), Science Club and Student Advisory Council, and acted as Student Section Leader. He has a 4.3 GPA, his mom said.
He also works at White Castle, where Angie said he hasn’t missed any time, either.
Nathan said he is most proud, though, of his dedication to sports.
He played basketball and baseball through high school, even though he said he considers freshman year of basketball his first healthy season and senior year the next time he was healthy again.
Although physical therapists told him it may not be wise to continue with basketball after his injuries, he decided to give it his all for his final year. Nathan said Fairbanks finished at the top of their league or had the best record every year of his high school career.
He said he is glad he pushed through, even though it can feel like “I’m made of glass.”
Aside from just “Most Injury Prone,” Nathan was also voted “Most School Spirit” for his senior superlative.
His commitment to perfect attendance has paid off, as he plans to attend Ohio Wesleyan University in the fall on a full-ride scholarship.
His acceptance letter included a handwritten note mentioning how impressed they were by his attendance.
Angie said she and her husband, Craig, are proud of their son’s hard work and hope that his “accomplishment is a sign of a new generation of young people who are dependable and can be counted on to show up.”
At OWU, Nathan will pursue a path in business finance as part of the Economics Management Fellows Program, a small group of students who also participate in career-related trips and internships.
Nathan said he will miss the close relationships he has with Fairbanks students and staff members – especially being able to walk down the halls and “always talk to different people” – but he is looking forward to approaching college as “a new deal.”
“It’ll be interesting to see if he keeps this up in college,” Angie said.
“We’ll see when the time comes,” Nathan responded.