“The strongest battles to the strongest soldiers”: PSU softball player reflects on recovery from devastating injury

By Brianna Barnes

Pittsburg State University softball player Kendall Forbes went from softball training to learning to walk again. A car accident on July 20, 2025, left her away from school and home for two months, changing her life.

A drunk driver hit her in a car accident, which caused her to be ejected from the car. Severe injuries had her in the hospital. After several operations, including head and pelvic surgeries, she was taken to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The injury, though, did not stop her, and she is back with the team and recovering.

The daughter of a professional baseball player, softball is important to her. She plays second base and is also a junior majoring in marketing. The injury and softball have shaped her to be the person she is and has showcased her grit and determination.

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Why is softball important to you?

My dad was a professional baseball player, and he coached minor leagues. He did that and up until I was 13. So, I like to joke that I was born on a baseball field because I’ve been going from the ages of 0 to 13.

I spent my summers and my spring breaks at the baseball fields, and I loved it. Then, when I got old enough to play, I quit meeting my dad each summer at his tournaments, and I would go and play my own tournaments. But it was just a way to stay connected with my dad even though he wasn’t there. Then I decided to pursue it in college.

What have you learned playing softball?

I’ve learned that if you want something, go get it. I’ve learned a lot of stamina. I’ve learned a lot of grit. I’ve just learned a lot of valuable life lessons that you can’t learn in the classroom or the workplace. You learn them being a part of something bigger than yourself and working with other people, and I love that about sports.

How has recovery been since the wreck?

It’s definitely not for the weak. It’s been brutal, I can’t lie, being out of school and away from my friends and my family. My rehab hospital was in Nebraska, so it’s not like people could just up and take a day off and drive up to come see me.

It was definitely hard to be secluded from my usual regular life, but I found a lot of motivation from people sending cards and just supporting me and my family. I think my faith has a lot to do with that too, because there’s nothing we can do without Him [God].

When did you get to like finally go back to softball?

[The neurologist] really doesn’t want me to be playing catch and hitting in a cage. She told me I can work out with the team, but to me, that is not really a softball thing in general. So, my dad, doctor and my coach both came to an agreement on certain things I could and couldn’t do. I’m just at the point where I’m easing back into softball things.

Why come back to softball, when so many people would have quit?

Quitting would be the easier thing to do. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like taking the easy way out. So, I don’t know, I feel like it was pre-decided before I had gotten out of the hospital that “she’s probably just going to medically retire.” But my mindset through it has all proven otherwise. I’ve just been—well, no one thinks I can do it, so I might as well show them it’s not impossible.

Who’s been your biggest supporter?

My parents have. There’s been a lot of people that have been very supportive, but I must give them all the credit. I got my fight from my dad, and my mom was there in the hospital with me every single day. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to both.

My boyfriend was also supportive. He would drive up to Nebraska every week so that he could get off work. One of my sisters lived in New York at the time, and the other one was playing basketball in Kentucky. They couldn’t necessarily be there, but I knew they would if they could.

What have you learned with softball and your injury that has formed you to be the person you are?

I think a lot of it came from before the wreck. I think it’s because I have such strong morals and values, and I have been shaped into the person that I was even before the wreck. I had no knowledge that could prepare me for that because no one can prepare you for that. But I feel like being a part of as many teams as I was and having a good support system behind me, I was very much set up for it. It was okay for something like that to happen because I had such a great team behind me.

How has your Pitt State experience been with the team and community?

The whole community of Pittsburg has been awesome. They’ve been behind me every step of the way—the fundraisers, and just strangers I didn’t even know showed up to my rehab hospital in Nebraska, letting me know that they’ve got my back and anything I need. It’s just been one thing after another where people just show up. Even the school and my softball team have been awesome. My coach has been awesome. Everyone has been telling me, “I got your back,” and I can confidently say, “I know you do.”

What does the future look like for you?

I’m hoping to be back on the softball field next year [in 2027]. I am also supposed to graduate next year. I just had my advisement meeting—I am still on track to graduate next year. I’m hoping that I can get myself back to where I was before July 20. I hope I can just grind my way back to where I was and be able to play next year, as well as get my degree.

Anything you want to add?

My dad had always said this one quote that has stuck with me my entire life. In whatever it is that I do, he always tells me to go be great.

Then, I don’t remember who I heard this from, but it is always stuck with me: God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. Those two things I had to keep reminding myself of every single day. When I’d wake up, that was my first thought because I knew I was not in a good situation, but I was the only one that could do something about it.