SEATTLE - Seattle's Garfield High School had one very big problem with its football team.

The helmets were more than 30 years old! That's when a student turned problem solver, and the solution came with a little help from Swedish Hospital.

Garfield's football team went 0-9 last year. But that wasn't the worst of it. Players got hurt, and the football players blame their old helmets.

How old is old?

"Our equipment manager Joe, when he's passing the helmet out, he'll talk about (how) he's been here so long he knows the players who've worn those helmets and he says 'I think Coach Allen wore that helmet,' " said Danny Althouse. "And I'm like -- isn't Coach Allen like 45?"

The helmets are, in fact, from 1970. Danny knew what he had to do when he saw one of his players get his helmet knocked off.

He also got knocked out of the game with a concussion.

The players believe the helmet was a bad fit.

"I was at the game Danny was at," said wide receiver Geordan Newbill. "That was a scary moment for all of us."

So Danny contacted Swedish Hospital.

"He's really resourceful," said Dr. David Newell. "He was able to figure out what buttons to push and the right people to get in line."

Danny knew what every teammate knows -- there just isn't any money in the budget for new helmets.

But thanks to Danny's determination, money isn't a problem any more. After hearing from Danny, the Neurosciences Institute at Swedish came through with a $5,000 donation --- enough for 25 new helmets!

"We've been short on helmets for years now," said coach Anthony Allen. "And this is a big step in making sure the kids have helmets on that are up to date."

Practices start in three weeks. They put the order in Tuesday for the new helmets so they should arrive in time for the start of the season.