Parents of volleyball player left with brain damage by trans opponent who knocked her to the ground break their silence and call for other families to ‘pull your kid’ from games

The parents of a volleyball player who was left with serious brain damage after she was knocked to the ground by a transgender opponent have broken their silence and have urged families to ‘pull your kid’ from sports games. 

Payton McNabb was 17 when a ball spiked by a trans opponent with force struck her in the face, threw her to the ground and left her unconscious while she played a volleyball match in September 2022.

Payton was left with brain damage and paralysis on her right side, which ended her dreams of getting a volleyball college scholarship and has made it difficult to walk without falling.

Now, in the hopes of raising awareness about the competitive advantage from biologically male transgender athletes can have, Payton and her parents are sharing their story in the new documentary ‘Kill Shot: How Payton McNabb Turned Tragedy Into Triumph’. 

In a preview of the film, Payton’s parents Pamela and Daniel McNabb speak for the first time of the guilt and frustration they felt as a result of their daughter’s life-altering incident. 

Detailing the moment she received a call informing her of her daughter’s injuries, Pamela said: ‘My first thought was, is she going to be ok? And then honestly my second- I was mad. I was furious, because we all knew this was going to happen. Did I think it would happen to my child? No. But we all knew. Everybody talked about it. Everybody knew something was going to happen.’

‘I would never, ever let her play today if I knew what I know now,’ Pamela also said in the documentary. 

‘Pull your kid. Don’t play. It is not worth what has happened to her to happen to anybody else’s child.’ 

The film includes raw footage of the incident, as well as interviews with Payton, as well as her parents and sister, who have never spoken out before. 

In April of 2023, Payton decided to testify at the North Carolina General Assembly in favor of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Bill, sharing her story publicly for the first time.

‘I may be the first to come before you with an injury, but if this doesn’t pass, I won’t be the last’, she said at the time, calling for a bill preventing those born male from participating in female sporting contests. 

Not long after, North Carolina banned trans atheltes from competing in female sports at middle, high school and college levels.

Now a communications student at Western Carolina University, Ms McNabb says she continues to struggle to move the right side of her body — leading her to regularly lose her balance and suffer from falls.

Her mental acuity is also damaged, with Ms McNabb requiring hours of extra tutoring every month and extra time during tests because of the damage.

And she has struggled with much worse vision, anxiety and depression as she fights to recover from her injuries.

The student — who played volleyball, softball and basketball — has also had her sporting career cut short right at the beginning, saying she can no longer play in the way that she knows she used to.

Experts say there is a risk of injuries like concussion from playing volleyball, regardless of the gender of the players.

But women struck by balls hit by trans players report they are traveling faster and with more force than anything they have previously experienced.

Studies have also shown that transgender players in women’s sports retain a biological advantage over their female opponents — even years after their transition began. 

A major review carried out last year found that early exposure to testosterone in trans women mean they possess at least eight physical and mental attributes that could give them an advantage in sports.

Trans women were also shown to have greater muscle mass and bone density, as well as bigger lungs, higher oxygen levels in the blood and increased connections in the area of the brain responsible for spatial awareness.