The injury boosted Thorson’s loyalty to Northwestern. Thorson was particularly touched by how athletic director Jim Phillips helped him in the moments after the injury, retrieving his street clothes from the locker room. “He said: ‘What do you want? What do you need?’ I told him, ‘Well, sweatpants and a coat.’ He went in there with all my dirty clothes and put them in my locker for me. He grabbed my stuff and brought it back. He was there the whole time with me and never left. My mom still gets teary talking about it.