To this day, Lake senior Will Mercure can’t recall the most traumatic moment of his life.

Mercure, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound wide receiver/cornerback for the football team, suffered a fractured skull when he overshot the mats and hit the floor headfirst as he practiced the pole vault before an indoor meet on March 8, 2024.

“I was delirious,” he said. “I had amnesia, so I don’t remember it. I was unable to formulate sentences or anything like that.”

As Mercure had done countless times before, he sprinted forward, planted the pole in the ground and launched himself into the air. But he flew over every mat and descended at an awkward angle, and his head hit the hard track surface.

Lakes assistant Dan Jazo, Mercure’s coach in the pole vault since sixth grade, was among the people who rushed to his side.

“It was the scariest thing that I’ve had to deal with as a coach,” Jazo said. “He was not looking good. He was out of it. He was kind of gurgling.”

Mercure, who had a fractured skull, two brain bleeds, a concussion and a broken wrist, was taken to the hospital. Three days later, he regained consciousness.

“I woke up, and I knew something had happened,” he said. “But I had no idea about any of the details.”

Mercure got those from his parents, Jason and Moira.

“The first thing I told them was that it was embarrassing,” Mercure said. “I’ve always had high standards, especially in pole vault. That’s what I plan to pursue in college. So I was thinking about how it might not have been the greatest look.”

That motivated him.

“I became a lot more determined,” Mercure said. “I knew that I could do so much better than anything I had done before. I knew it would be pretty great to say that this happened to me and now I can do this.”

But Mercure said doctors told him it would take at least three to six months to return to any competition.

“I’ve always done a lot of sports,” he said. “So it was like losing a part of me.”

Lakes’ Will Mercure plays catch at the beginning of a practice on campus in Lake Villa on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (Rob Dicker / News-Sun)

Mercure’s recovery actually took nearly 10 months. After missing the 2024 football season, he finally returned to action for the Lakes boys basketball team on Jan. 14. Overeager, Mercure fouled out.

“Well, I’ve always been aggressive,” he said.

After basketball season, Mercure returned to track and field. He had joined the RISE Pole Vault training program in Joliet to go all-in.

“I was expecting to be super nervous or even scared because I’ve obviously learned that things can go wrong,” he said. “But I didn’t really feel worried. I was just so excited to be back.”

Mercure accomplished his goal of soaring to new heights. Clearing 14-9, he placed sixth at the Class 3A state meet in May.

“I felt like I could do anything, and I still feel that way,” he said.

Mercure’s self-belief is serving him well on the football field too. Going into a game against Northern Lake County Conference leader Antioch on Friday, he leads Lakes (3-1, 2-0) with 288 yards and four touchdowns on 11 catches, he has made nine tackles and he’s the backup kicker.

Mercure picked up kicking during his recovery last season, when he went to every practice even though he couldn’t play.

“Will is a very active individual,” Lakes football coach Jason Ellerman said. “In practice, he was trying to do drills with us. I was like, ‘Get out of the drill!’

“Finally, he realized, ‘Well, I need to do something with my energy that’s not going to get me hurt.’ So he just went and place-kicked. He was able to get himself to kick a 40-yard field goal.”

Mercure, who received the Good Person of the Year award at the football team’s postseason banquet last year, has multiple cousins — including former Lakes quarterback Jordan Mercure — who have left lasting legacies at the school. Will Mercure is adding his name.

“He’s just a tremendous person,” Ellerman said. “He definitely puts people before himself. He’s a well-spoken kid and very thoughtful. He’s going to be pretty successful in life.”

Jazo shares that sentiment.

“He’s the most coachable kid I think I’ve ever had,” Jazo said of Mercure. “He’s absorbing everything that you say, and he’s just the nicest kid, always thanking you.

“Every single time that we’ve gone to a track meet, I always have an official or another coach come up to me after and say, ‘That Will Mercure is just a great kid.’”

Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/25/football-lakes-will-mercure/