After a career-threatening injury, Clay Dimick is back as Charlotte Indpendence’s captain

The first neurosurgeon Clay Dimick saw last year told him his professional soccer career was likely over.

What started as a slight irritation in Dimick’s neck turned into a whirlwind of days meeting with multiple doctors and specialists. The Charlotte Independence defender had a pair of ruptured discs impeding on his spinal cord and needed surgery as soon as possible.

After getting a second opinion, he chose to undergo a two-level cervical artificial disc replacement, which removed both damaged discs and replaced them with artificial ones.

Two NHL players recently received one-level replacements and returned to the ice, but Dimick’s doctor told him no professional athlete has had a two-disc replacement and returned to the field.

The defender underwent surgery in September 2023. Within months, he overcame an injury that threatened paralysis and the end of his career and returned to the field for Charlotte’s preseason training in February .

Dimick has played every minute of every game for the club since. With patience, determination and faith, he’s remained the Jacks’ captain and a crucial part of their back line.

“When it first happened, I imagined myself not having a lot more left in my career,” Dimick said. “I was like, ‘dang, maybe this is it.’ It kind of makes you reevaluate things. But now my body feels great. My neck feels great. So if I keep feeling like this, I like to think and hope and pray that I still have a ways to go in the game.”

Dimick first felt a very minor pain in his neck in July 2023, an irritation that just felt like he had slept wrong the night before.

It slightly worsened the following week, with the defender occasionally feeling static or electric shocks shoot through his extremities when coughing or in brief moments during games.

Over time, his gait while running and coordination in training began to diminish. He realized that he needed medical attention and talked to a Charlotte Independence trainer.

Dimick was then sent to a doctor, who did blood work and took an MRI. The MRI revealed issues with his neck and spinal discs and he was referred to a neurosurgeon.

The Atlanta native had never had a significant injury before, and initially thought that even if he needed surgery it might just be a small one with a quick recovery time of two months, at most.

Then, the first neurosurgeon delivered his prognosis.

“He said if I was his son, he wouldn’t let me play ever again,” Dimick said. “So immediately I thought my career was done.”

On top of that, the neurosurgeon said that one trip and fall, or one hard jerk of the head could leave Dimick with permanent damage or even paralysis because of how far the discs impeded on his spinal cord.

“That obviously really hit hard, I got two kids at home and a wife and you know, I just want to be healthy for them,” Dimick said. “But at the same time, I felt like I had so much more to give to this career. So it kind of shook my world up.”

Dimick met with two more neurosurgeons over the next couple of days, including one who was a specialist in artificial disc replacement at North Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine.

He chose to go with the two-level cervical artificial disc replacement that the specialist offered as opposed to a cervical spinal fusion, which would’ve left rods and plates behind in his neck and spine and likely caused him to lose a lot of mobility.

Dimick saw the disc replacement operation as the “most obvious option.” He believed it gave him a chance to continue to live an active lifestyle and potentially return to the field, although his doctor told him no professional athlete had previously returned to play after the two-level replacement Dimick underwent. He had surgery on Sept. 14, 2023.

The operation went smoothly, but the defender was bedridden after the surgery and was initially limited to 5-minute walks three times a day. He faced a long way back to returning to full health.

His wife, Cat, had to help him shower, comb his hair and brush his teeth in the weeks following the surgery. At the same time, Cat and Dimick’s family were taking care of their two sons — Callum was about to turn 2 while Caiden had just been born in July.

In addition to his family, Dimick said that everyone from the owners to the training staff at Charlotte Independence supported him throughout his surgery and rehab. Members of his church, St. Ann’s, also organized a Meal Train to help the family.

As time progressed, Dimick realized the left side of his body would take the longest to rehab. He gradually worked on crossing his left arm and leg toward the right side of his body, as it usually felt like there was a “lag” between when he tried to move his extremities and when they’d actually move. He also had to regain his dexterity by learning how to use forks and zippers again.

“With spinal cords you’re never really 100% if it’s going to return fully or not, so that was always up in the air,” Dimick said. “...It was just kind of like praying and waiting and being faithful and hopefully it would come back.”

The 29-year-old defender started to regain more mobility and was able to be slightly more active about six to eight weeks after the surgery. He started to do more exercises that focused on maintaining his balance and was able to go on short five to 10 minute jogs in a straight line.

After three to four months, he was able to incorporate more running and light weightlifting into his rehab. He was able to ramp up the running in January, which was when he began to realize that he might actually be able to return to the field.

“My spinal cord specialist said there’s no medical way to describe how I got back that fast,” Dimick said. “The stuff that I got back, they weren’t sure I was gonna get back.”

Dimick was able to take part in Charlotte Independence’s six-week preseason that started in February, with only some lingering fear and doubt. A lot of that continued to fall away as he got back into the routine of practicing and playing.

“For a while I was just like, I just want to be healthy again for my wife and kids and live an active life,” Dimick said. “Then it began to creep in like ‘oh, wait, I’m kind of getting my dexterity back,’ or ‘I’m getting my coordination back’ and I would pass the ball a little bit with my son. And I was like, ‘okay, it feels good,’ So then I started to ramp stuff up.”

While he had always prided himself on being one of the fittest players on the team, his recovery meant it took him longer than usual to get there.

Just six months after undergoing a surgery for an injury that could’ve ended his career, Dimick started in Charlotte Independence’s 2024 season opener against One Knoxville SC in USL League One.

He captained the side and scored a goal in his return to the pitch . He’s played every minute of the season since and made his 100th professional appearance , all of which have been with the Jacks, in April.

“I had a personal goal of playing every minute and being available to play every minute and so far, it’s going well, so I’m just super thankful and blessed that it’s gone that way,” Dimick said.

While the last year has been hard, Dimick said it’s helped him grow to appreciate what he has — in life and in soccer — even more. It’s also helped him resonate as a captain with teammates who have suffered long-term injuries. He doesn’t feel he’ll forget the lessons he’s learned as a professional soccer player.

And if he does, he has a small scar on his neck where the incision was made for the surgery to remind him.

“People have it far worse than me, so it just makes you realize how fortunate and blessed you are,” Dimick said. “It just gave me a good perspective at home off the field and also on the field, like getting to do this every day and making a living out of it is such a blessing.

“I’d like to think before the injury I didn’t take it for granted and now, I don’t think I do.”