Cole Donaldson’s life was one of success, pain, and perseverance. After being forced out of sports by disease and injuries, he is trying to spread his message of resilience.

In the midst of continuous hardship, Cole simply refuses to give up hope. 

Home

Cole grew up in Maryland, in what is known as the Western and Eastern Shores. When he and his family moved from North Carolina to Maryland, Cole was just five years old. 

It was your typical rural and country style living, surrounded by farm fields. Cole, along with his two older brothers, were always active and played outdoors as much as they could. Often, they would be playing in the woods, riding dirt bikes or simply going to a field and playing football with one another.

“We were having a good time being kids, you know being outdoorsy kids. It’s kind of like in the movies where you have rules where you can be out until sunset and when the sun’s going down, you got to come home,” Cole Donaldson said, reminiscing about his early childhood in Maryland. 

Family was a pivotal part of Cole’s upbringing too. His family didn’t come from much wealth, and instead had to work very hard for everything they wanted in life.

“My parents, they didn’t come from money, they didn’t have a lot growing up. The one thing that they did was make sure that we (Cole and his siblings) always had a roof over our head, had 3 meals a day and had clothes on our back,” Cole Donaldson said.

His parents always made sure that Cole did well in school and would take him to all of his sporting events. Even when having to work multiple jobs or seven days a week, his parents always found a way to be there for Cole.

Memories

Cole found solace in sports.

“My life always revolved around sports. It was a big part of who I was,” Cole said.

When Cole was seven years old, he had family and friends from North Carolina visit him and his family in Maryland. They were able to catch one of Cole’s youth football games the weekend they came.

Cole was asked by a family member who visited, “are you excited for your game?” Cole passionately said to him, “Yes, the first time I touch the ball, I’m going to score.” 

Cole had his chance to turn his words into reality early on in the game. The ball was on his own 30-yard-line, and his team ran a running play, a 36 Power. Cole, the running-back, took the ball on the handoff and escaped down the field for a 70-yard touchdown. 

From the crowd, Cole heard the family member yell in shock and joy, “He’s going to do it!”

The very first time Cole had touched the ball, he had scored.

Hardship

As Cole grew older, he primarily played lacrosse and football. He was a highly touted goaltender in lacrosse and played running back and wide-receiver in his earlier years in football, before later transitioning to defensive-back at DeMatha Catholic High School. 

DeMatha Catholic HS is regarded as one of the top high schools for all sports in the whole country. 

In lacrosse, he was one of the top goalies in the country while in high school and had interest from top programs such as Ohio State and Maryland. In football, he made Varsity his freshman year. 

Everything was looking up for Cole, who was a star dual-athlete in high school. 

All that would change and, in the process, push Cole to his limit. Injuries would constantly plague Cole throughout his life, ever since he was eight years old and dealt with knee issues. Hardship and pain would ensue.

His knees, his shoulders, his collarbone, and his back. A total of roughly six severe injuries, all involving bone breaks or dislocated joints.

“I fell deeper and deeper into the hole I was falling into since I was an eight-year-old kid. I was always injured, always watching from the sidelines, just watching. Didn’t play, just watching,” Cole Donaldson said in regard to all his injuries.

The one injury that would end his career in sports would come while in high school, in the 2019 WCAC football semifinal against DeMatha’s rival, St. John’s. 

Right before halftime, St. John’s was leading 10-0 and driving in DeMatha territory. Cole was playing cornerback and trying to make a tackle on running-back Antwain Littleton II, who weighed about 275 pounds and was often called “Baby Bus.” 

Cole described the play in his words.

“He took an inside zone and bounced it out. It was one on one, me and him. I was 155 pounds, and he was 275 pounds. The way my body was positioned wasn’t in my favor,” Cole said. “I had to throw myself backwards at him. When I did, his knee went right in between my backplate and buttpad. He struck the left side of my back, and I ended up breaking my L2, L3, and L4 vertebrae. That was the last [injury].”

St. John’s RB Antwain Littleton II strikes DeMatha DB Cole Donaldson in the back, late in the 2nd quarter of the 2019 WCAC semifinal. 

Cole would spend the next three days in the hospital, with his dad by his side at every moment. He avoided surgery but his career in sports was over.

Battle with Lyme Disease

Cole was about nine years old when he noticed something bizarre on the back of his neck. It was a tick engorged in his skin and was there for quite some time. Soon after, Cole would be diagnosed with Lyme Disease. All along, this was the true cause of Cole’s injuries.

Cole would be treated with antibiotics, and was taking many pills a day to combat the illness. However, it did not cure his disease due to the complexity of Lyme Disease.

“Growing up, I was always very outgoing, happy, a positive kid. Then one day, my parents saw a switch with me. I was very quiet, very angry. I felt a hollowness, an emptiness inside of me. I always felt tired, drained, and very irritable,” Cole Donaldson said regarding early signs of Lyme.

Even Cole’s mother, Susan Donaldson, saw changes in her son. 

“His mood started to change and he didn’t want to do things. He didn’t want to put his shoes on. He didn’t want to get dressed,” Susan Donaldson said. 

She thought it was a phase. At that time, roughly ten years ago, Lyme Disease wasn’t all that known to many.

Upon doing blood work, Cole would find out that he had serious vitamin deficiencies. Barely any vitamin D, C or B. All a major part as to why Cole had recurring bone breaks. 

Cole also had issues with his energy levels and was unable to put on weight. His body simply could not keep up with his very active lifestyle.

“Best way I can describe it is like when you go a long time without eating food. You start to become really weak, you become tingly, you start to just feel drained,” Cole Donaldson said about his ongoing battle with Lyme. 

Cole was forever changed because of a single tick bite which led to a chronic form of Lyme Disease.

What exactly is Lyme Disease?

To learn more about the disease, I spoke to Physician Assistant, Lauren Yunker. She works in Primary Care at Horizon Family Medical in Highland Falls, NY, and is very familiar with Lyme Disease and the havoc it can cause on one’s immune system.

Lyme is a tick transmitted disease which is caused by the bacteria, borrelia burgdorferi. It mainly is transmitted by the black legged tick (also known as the deer tick).

Lyme disease can cause symptoms or no symptoms at all, and even a bullseye rash. However, according to Lauren Yunker, a rash can only be seen in about 50% of patients.

The key to Lyme Disease is early detection and treatment.

“If caught early, you can take an antibiotic and be cleared within as far as the CDC says 2-4 weeks if it’s a simple infection. If it is missed and not caught early enough, it can go right into the nervous system and cause problems with balance, thinking, memory concentration, and chronic fatigue,” Yunker said. 

Years after the diagnosis, symptoms can persist and worsen. 

I went on to ask her about Cole’s situation and how Lyme might’ve impacted him.

Regarding his recurrent injuries, Yunker said, “Lyme can affect all tissues, muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues. So, if there’s a constant inflammation at the insertion sites to where ligaments attach to the bones, then it’s possible to have recurrent injuries.”

Yunker has advice for Cole and all others out there, especially those suffering with Chronic Lyme Disease. Seek external modalities when antibiotics can no longer work.

“Everything you do is to support your immune system to increase your lymphatic flow and your natural endorphins in the brain, to just provide a healing environment. So, like massage for lymphatic circulation, acupuncture for circulation and endorphins. Infrared sauna goes deep into the tissue to heat up the body, so high temperature kills bacteria,” Yunker said. 

The top goal in mind to help fight back against Chronic Lyme according to Yunker is to create a strong and healthy host, which then can help one rebuild their immune system and defeat the disease. 

Inspire

Cole Donaldson is now twenty years old, suffering from the remnants of all his injuries and Lyme Disease. He’s been fighting back for most of his life and continues to do so.

Cole now wishes to inspire himself and others through acting, and by creating documentary films about his life. 

“When I left high school, I had to decide what I was going to do next in life. Something that I always kind of had a passion for was acting. Ever since I was a little kid, I always loved the thought of creating a film.” Cole Donaldson said.

Cole’s first film about his own life, “Redemption,” premiered on YouTube on May 5th, 2022. 

Link to Cole’s film – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIMArkMcFzA 

“I wanted to put out a film to inspire or motivate people to show them that no matter how far down life gets you, you’re always going to be able to get back up. Seeing how many lives I’ve impacted based on a film of my life, it’s just so crazy.” Cole Donaldson said regarding his film.

Cole also has a message for others who may be dealing with Lyme Disease or suffering from injury after injury.

“God has a plan for everybody. We might not understand it in the moment or in the future. I might not understand it a month from now, two months from now, three months from now, or even a year from now. One day, you’re going to understand and you’re going to come out of the storm such a better person than when you walked in it.”