Indianapolis boy, 10, rebounds from devastating injury - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Cat Andersen/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A year after a nine-year-old Indianapolis boy lost part of his leg in a train accident, he's now heading to a football championship.

Watching Phillip Cross' team on the football field, it's hard to tell which player is playing with a prosthesis. Until they all take off their shoes, it's a mystery.

"You're not going to be able to tell the difference between him and the rest of the kids," said Phil Cross Sr., Phillip's father.

But ask Phillip Cross Jr. himself, and he says he can tell a difference in his performance this year versus last.

"I improved," he said.

The ten-year-old center says he's gotten a lot better at tackling. Maybe it's not surprising considering what he's had to tackle in the past year just to get back on the football field.

"He came early. Out there, I even had a tear in my eye, me and the other coaches. We couldn't believe he was here so fast and then producing like he was doing," said Darryl Harvey, coach.

Last fall, Cross was playing with his cousins along the railroad tracks, trying to see how long he could hang on the side of the train while it passed by. He slipped and fell and the next thing he knew his foot was gone.

Phillip's foot was found about 300 yards away. His mother was one of the first to pull up on the scene. She said she couldn't even process what had happened.

"I didn't have any thoughts at that moment," said Arlene Sanders, who wiped away tears as she told the story. Later at the hospital when she learned doctors wouldn't be able to save her son's foot, "then I really lost it."

"After he woke up, he said, 'Can I play football again?' And then he said, 'I'm going to play again.' He's been working at it from day one. He went through it all with a smile and determination," said his dad.

His family says he was their rock.

"He carried all of us. I mean, people were crying, tears dropping and he's patting us on the back, giving us hugs," said Phillip Sr.

"He took it better than everybody, so I told him no matter what you do in life you're going to always be something," said Harvey.

"I'm proud of myself because I came back and now I'm making a go at the championship," said Phillip Jr.

All those painful days of physical therapy have paid off for Cross. His team is going to the Police Athletic League Football Championship this weekend. He says their strategy is simple.

"It's not a secret. It's just play hard, have fun and win," he said.

As far as his family is concerned, he's already won.

Phillip Cross's game takes place Saturday afternoon at the Colts complex starting at 1:00 pm.