November 4, 2024
Leesburg’s Mason Harding Overcomes Brain Surgery, Helps Bowling Team Finish State Runner-Up
By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg’s Mason Harding Overcomes Brain Surgery, Helps Bowling Team Finish State Runner-Up
LEESBURG, Fla. — Just months after undergoing a life-altering brain surgery, Leesburg High School’s Mason Harding made an inspiring return to the bowling lanes this season helping his team finish as state runner-up. Harding, who endured a temporal lobe disconnection and an amygdalohippocampectomy to cure his epilepsy, defied the odds in a season marked by resilience and grit.
Harding’s journey began with an initial surgery to address his seizures. Surgeons noticed a minor hemorrhage post-operation but believed it would clot and dissipate. However, when it failed to do so, Harding was rushed back into surgery just an hour and a half later. Though they were able to save him, the emergency left Harding paralyzed on his right side. Since then Mason has worked very hard day in and day out to overcome his challenges.
(Mason Harding stands second from the left with his teammates. Leesburg High won the state championship in 2023 and would finish state runner-up in 2024.)
Harding, however, has showed remarkable progress, and while he told us earlier this year that he thinks he looks funny when he bowls, He is viewed as an inspiration by many people. Mason has gone through something few of us could possibly imagine. But to see him out there after all of this and bowling with some of the top bowlers in the state, and doing what he’s doing is awe inspiring. We absolutely love to see it.
This season, Harding not only returned to the team but also demonstrated significant improvement, relearning how to bowl effectively. In Orlando, Leesburg High came within reach of a state title, ultimately falling to Seabreeze High by a narrow margin of 4,038 to 4,008. Harding placed 66th individually out of 199 bowlers, with a series score of 781 and a high game of 208.
(While it might not have been a state championship, being part of the state-runner up team was an awesome accomplishment for this young man.)
To see Mason Harding bowling this year and having the success he did was such a great thing for the sport. The thing I love about Bowling is that it is a vey inclusive sport. Everyone is competitive but there is a brotherhood and a bond between these athletes.
Harding’s comeback season is among the best highlights of 2024. Although Leesburg High might not bee state champions, runner-up is really good considering the competition they faced.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
