The parents of a volleyball player who suffered severe brain damage after being knocked to the ground by a transgender opponent have broken their silence and urged families to ‘pull your child out of sporting events’.
Payton McNabb was 17 when a ball forcefully spiked by a transgender opponent struck her in the face, threw her to the ground and left her unconscious as she played a volleyball match in September 2022.
Payton suffered brain damage and paralysis on her right side, which ended her dreams of getting a college scholarship for volleyball and made it difficult to walk without falling.
Hoping to raise awareness about the competitive advantage that biologically male transgender athletes can have, Payton and her parents are sharing their story in the new documentary “Kill Shot: How Payton McNabb Turned Tragedy Into Triumph.”
In a preview of the film, Payton’s parents Pamela and Daniel McNabb speak for the first time about the guilt and frustration they felt as a result of their daughter’s life-changing incident.
Pamela recounted the moment she received a phone call informing her of her daughter’s injuries: “My first thought was, is she going to be okay? And then, honestly, my second… I was angry. I was furious because we all knew this would happen. Did I think this would happen to my child? No. But we all knew it. Everyone talked about it. Everyone knew something was going to happen.”
“I would never, ever let her play today if I knew what I know now,” Pamela also said in the documentary.
‘Pull your child. Don’t play. What happened to her isn’t worth it happening to someone else’s child.”
Payton McNabb was 17 when she suffered life-changing injuries after being hit by a transgender athlete while playing volleyball. Payton is pictured speaking at a press conference on transgender inclusion in sports at the North Carolina Legislative Building in April 2023
Payton’s parents Pamela and Daniel have spoken out for the first time in a new documentary expressing their frustration and sadness. Pamela urged parents to withdraw their children from sporting events
Image shows the moment Payton was hit and left unconscious during the volleyball match that changed her life in 2022
The film includes unedited footage of the incident, as well as interviews with Payton, as well as her parents and sister, who have never spoken out before.
In April 2023, Payton decided to testify at the North Carolina General Assembly in favor of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Bill, sharing her story publicly for the first time.
“I may be the first to come to you with an injury, but if this doesn’t go away, I won’t be the last,” she said at the time, calling for a bill banning men from competing in female sports. competitions.
Not long after, North Carolina banned trans athletes from competing in female sports at the middle school, high school and college levels.
Ms. McNabb, now a communications student at Western Carolina University, says she still has trouble moving the right side of her body, causing her to frequently lose her balance and suffer from falls.
Her mental acuity has also been damaged, with Ms McNabb requiring hours of extra tutoring and extra time on tests every month due to the damage.
And she has struggled with much worse vision, anxiety and depression as she fights to recover from her injuries.
The student – who played volleyball, softball and basketball – also had her sports career cut short right at the beginning, because she said she could no longer play the way she knew she used to.
Experts say there is a risk of injuries such as concussion from playing volleyball, regardless of the gender of the players.
But women hit by balls hit by trans players report traveling faster and with more force than anything they’ve experienced before.
Studies have also shown that transgender players in women’s sports maintain a biological advantage over their female opponents – even years after their transition begins.
A large-scale study conducted last year found that early exposure to testosterone in trans women means they have at least eight physical and mental attributes that could give them an advantage in sports.
Trans women were also found to have greater muscle mass and bone density, as well as larger lungs, higher oxygen levels in the blood and better connections in the area of the brain responsible for spatial awareness.