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Tyson Gentry (Official Thread)

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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Encouragement from unexpected sources [/FONT]
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</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By ROSEMARIE ROSSETTI[/FONT]
<section> </section> <article> <section> </section>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A thank you card arrived in my mail last month from the family of Ohio State University football player Tyson Gentry.[/FONT]</article>
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]They thanked me for giving their son a copy of my book of inspirational articles "Take Back Your Life!" The unexpected circumstances that led them to write this card may give you something to think about.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On Aug. 22, 2005, I had the opportunity to speak before the OSU Buckeye football team and coaches. I shared the story about my spinal cord injury. I also shared lessons to live by to help them cope with change and deal with adversity, on and off the football field. I spoke about Adam Taliaferro, a Penn State football player who had a spinal cord injury during the September 23, 2000 game at Ohio State.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At the end of my presentation, I handed out 8 ?222-178?" X 11" sheets of assorted colored construction paper and markers to each person in the audience. I asked them to write an inspirational message to the new patients with spinal cord injuries at the OSU Dodd Hall rehabilitation center. Each player signed his name and put his jersey number on his "Get Well" card. I explained that I would be taking the cards to Dodd Hall that evening and they would be displayed in the hallways. This would be a great way to boost the spirits of the patients, families, doctors, nurses and staff, especially during the fall football season. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When the audience left the auditorium, my husband, Mark, as well as Coach Jim Tressel, his wife Ellen, and I began to read what the audience members had written. At times, each of us read a verse from a card out loud and marveled at the sentiments. Tressel was amazed at the heart-felt language and artwork that his players had created. He shared personal stories with Mark and me about many of the players. You could see from his smile and the tears welling in his eyes that Tressel was very proud of what the players had expressed. Indeed, these Buckeyes offered inspiration and support to others whose lives had suddenly changed forever.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When I delivered the cards to Dodd Hall, they were treated with high regard. Several were framed, hung on the walls, and taped to the windows of the inpatient and outpatient facilities. They are still on display today. One of them reads: "Never give up no matter how much adversity you face. You can always overcome & beat adversity. A lot of people believe in you."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In April 2006, a Dodd Hall staff member photocopied that particular get well card and rushed it to the OSU intensive care unit. Why? Tyson Gentry, a 20 year old freshman on the football team was in intensive care.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The OSU punter and receiver sustained a spinal cord injury during practice on April 14. He was taken to the OSU medical center for surgery on his neck. Later he was transported to Dodd Hall for rehabilitation, the same center where I spent five weeks after my injury in the summer of 1998. And who was the OSU football player that created that particular get well card?195-151?? Tyson Gentry.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Never did I imagine how soon adversity would strike one of the players![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ironic! The message he wrote was meant to be seen by a newly injured patient at Dodd Hall. Now he was that patient! One can only imagine what went through his mind when his get well card was delivered.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Today, I spoke to Gentry about his experience of receiving his card. He said that one of his nurses remembered that the card was at Dodd Hall and requested that the copy be sent. Gentry said, "When I saw the card, it was kind of weird and neata surreal experience! You never know what can happen. God throws things at you and you have to roll with the punches."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]He told me that when I asked him in August 2005 to write the card, he remembered thinking about what to write. "I was clueless. I thought a few minutes. I had never been around a person with a spinal cord injury. I wanted to tell them to stay positive and fight through it. Funny how it happened the way it did."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Perhaps something I said in August 2005 will come to mind as he lay in bed thinking about his future. One of the lessons I explained during my presentation was to focus on a hopeful future, not on self pity. That lesson was taught to me by Christopher Reeve.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One year before my injury I was in the audience at Reeve's presentation in Columbus. Reeve spoke about the loneliness of his nights in the rehabilitation center and his thoughts of hopelessness. I remember him explaining how self pity is a trap that leads to deep depression.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When I was at Dodd Hall, I had a photo of Christopher Reeve, taken during his speech, mounted on the wall at the foot of my bed. I looked at it often during many lonely nights and tried to focus on how my life would have value again. As I focused my thoughts on a hopeful future, I began to feel encouraged about my recovery.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Today, Gentry has his get well card framed and setting on the window ledge next to his hospital bed. Maybe this card can serve as his inspirational anchor for the next several weeks at Dodd Hall.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Each time I look at that thank you card from the Gentry family, I get an eerie feeling. Words of encouragement can come from a myriad of sources: people, books, articles, cards, and speeches. Given the chance to create a card, I wonder what I might have written before my injury. Maybe we should write a card to ourselves and give it to someone for safe keeping in case someday we need encouragement.[/FONT]
 
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Dispatch

7/25/06


Gentry update



Injured player Tyson Gentry recently moved out of a rehabilitation facility and into an apartment, a school spokesman said. He is planning to take fall-quarter classes.

Gentry, a walk-on punter and receiver, fell awkwardly after being hit in a scrimmage April 14. He suffered a fractured vertebra and underwent two surgeries.
He has upper-body movement. The spokesman said doctors say it is not unusual for six to eight months to pass after a serious neck injury before knowing the full extent of a patient’s recovery.
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Heard an announcement on 1460 The Fan this afternoon on my lunch drive time that Gentry will be holding a press conference this afternoon at 4:00. 1460 will be carrying it live.
 
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Injured Buckeye hopes to walk back into Ohio Stadium
Posted: July 27, 2006

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Through the darkest moments -- the surgeries and the endless hours with therapists bending and stretching his rubbery limbs -- Tyson Gentry thought about others he had met who had suffered spinal injuries.
They weren't athletes. They weren't as young or as strong.

"There's always somebody worse off than you," Gentry said quietly.

A three-year walk-on at Ohio State as a punter and later a receiver, Gentry went out for a pass during practice last April and his life turned upside down.


"I've never questioned why me, why did this happen?" Gentry said Thursday from his wheelchair, flanked by his family inside Ohio State's wood-paneled football locker room. "I've tried to be thankful for the fact that this is just something I had to do. It was thrown my way. There's no sense getting down about it.

"It's more of a question of, why did it happen so easily?"

Gentry recalls catching the ball, turning upfield, feeling the ball slip from his hands and turning to collect it while falling down. He landed awkwardly.

After the whistle blew, everyone got up except the skinny kid from Sandusky who always wanted to be a Buckeye.

"We knew it was serious immediately," said Tyson's mother, Gloria. "He couldn't move anything from the very beginning."

He never lost consciousness as tests determined he broke a vertebra. The vertebrae above and below had to be fused to the damaged area to add support. Titanium plates were implanted in front and back of his neck to aid the healing process.

"Before he even left ICU he was moving his arms, so that was tremendous," his mother said.

Gentry regained use of one arm but still has minimal control of the other. He has sensation in his legs but still can't move them.

He spent a week in intensive care, then moved to a rehabilitation facility on Ohio State's medical campus and regularly undergoes therapy.

"If anyone will do everything he possibly can, it will be him," coach Jim Tressel said. "He's a guy who will progress."

Throughout his ordeal, a stream of teammates has visited, bringing colorful stories from the outside world, making him laugh, lifting his spirits.

That balanced what he often saw and heard around the hospital or during rehab. One boy was on vacation and walking on a beach when a wave hit him from behind and left him with spinal injuries similar to Gentry's.

"It's crazy how people can be hit so hard in football or do all these extreme sports, and yet there are times when little things like that are all it takes," Gentry said.

Gentry tried to focus on his own tasks and look ahead. He was helped by an outpouring of concern and love -- from his friends and family, but also from people he'd never met who were touched by his struggle.

The letters, cards and notes poured in -- more than 2,000. Some were from other countries, some from military personnel saying they were thinking about him.

"I was really in awe of how much everybody really cares," Gentry said. "Those stories don't get told enough. There's so many good people out there, people who I had no idea at all of who they are or people who didn't know me at all. But yet they took the time to get a card and fill it out and mail it. It's really blown me away."

Some of the notes brought hope. Gentry heard of a 13-year-old Ohio boy who broke his neck but now is walking and playing golf.

Gentry got calls from Adam Taliaferro, the Penn State cornerback who suffered a spinal injury while playing against Ohio State in 2000. Taliaferro fought his way back, eventually walking onto the field at Beaver Stadium.

Taliaferro said his injury was similar to Gentry's. The Gentry family hopes that's true.

"We are all very hopeful that muscle movement will continue to improve," Tyson's mother said.

On July 20, Gentry turned 21. He received 500 birthday cards, and presents including a new Ohio State game jersey. Teammates serenaded him with an off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" around midnight.

Gentry plans to attend Ohio State this fall, continuing on his road to a double major in psychology and speech pathology. His sister, Ashley, will be one of his roommates and will lend a hand in helping him adapt to the challenges ahead.

A couple of family friends set up a trust fund for him through National City Bank. Tyson's father said the family's hope is to not use the money.

"Our goal is to give it away," said Bob Gentry, himself a former Ohio State player in the mid-1970s. "We'll give it away when he walks."

Tyson continues rehabilitation and aims, like Taliaferro, to walk back into his home stadium on game day.

"It's something the good Lord gave us to deal with, and that's what we're doing," Bob Gentry said. "You've got to keep that positive approach."


Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=112173
 
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From the free BN article covering the news conference, here is the bit that to which I think the generous folks round here should pay attention.

The outpouring of support from everyone has helped the spirits of the Gentry family. Through approval of Ohio State and the NCAA, a trust fund has been set up at National City Bank for anyone wishing to make donations to Gentry’s recovery.
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I think it is important to note this fact.
 
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Dispatch

OSU’s Gentry pursuing recovery from broken neck
Punter-receiver speaks to media for first time since accident
By Ken Gordon
The Columbus Dispatch
Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:50 PM
<table class="phototableright" align="right" border="0"> <tbody><tr><td> <table align="center"> <tbody><tr><td align="center">
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</td></tr> <tr><td class="credit" width="200">Neal C. Lauron | Dispatch</td></tr> <tr><td class="cutline" width="200">Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel and his wife Ellen talk to Gentry after the news conference this afternoon. Behind Tyson is his sister, Ashley. </td></tr> </tbody></table> </td></tr> </tbody></table>
Buoyed by an outpouring of support and encouraged by slow but steady progress, Ohio State football player Tyson Gentry said this afternoon that his goal was a complete recovery from a broken neck suffered in April.
Gentry broke the C-4, or fourth vertebra from the top, after falling awkwardly in a scrimmage at Ohio Stadium. Sitting in a motorized wheelchair, he met the media today in the newly renovated OSU locker room at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
He has complete upper-body movement, although he still lacks strength in his arms, his left arm in particular. He has sensation in his legs but cannot move his lower body.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Gentry said in his first public statement since the injury. “I've had noticeable improvement in my arms, and I'm definitely a lot stronger than I was. Obviously, it's up to me and God how much I get back in other parts, but my goal is a complete recovery.”
He said doctors have been hesitant to give him a prognosis, because they have told him they have seen such wide ranges of outcomes with injuries such as his.
Gentry, a backup punter and receiver, plans to continue his education this fall. He is pursuing a double major in psychology and speech pathology.
Gentry was flanked by his father, Bob, mother, Gloria, and one of his two sisters, Ashley. All expressed gratitude for how the community and OSU fans have supported Tyson.
“I got hundreds of cards a day at first,” Tyson said, smiling. “I got about 500 on my birthday (he turned 21 last week).”
Gentry said he has never once questioned, “Why me?”
“It's just something I have to go through, something that's been thrown my way,” he said.
[email protected]
 
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http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/osu/daily/072806arch.html

Archdeacon: Paralyzed OSU player doesn't ask, 'Why me?'

By Tom Archdeacon

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS | It was his first trip back to the newly refurbished Ohio State University football dressing room.

Yet as he sat there surrounded by all those flat-screen televisions and the plush carpeting, Tyson Gentry ignored the new amenities and embraced an old memory.

"I'd be in the locker room before a game and I used to love to hold my jersey out and stare at it before I pulled it over my pads and went out on the field," the third-year walk-on said quietly.

As he reminisced, his parents and sister tightly grasped each others' hands beneath the adjacent table where they sat.

Gentry no longer is able to hold out his Buckeye jersey with both hands, no longer able to go out onto the field.

That all changed April 14 just as his football dreams finally seemed to be coming true during spring drills. Moved from punter to receiver — his primary position at Sandusky Perkins High School — he was following the footsteps of his dad, Bob, himself a former Buckeye player.

Then came a devastating injury in a routine drill.

"I remember catching the ball, going a few steps, and the ball started to slip," Gentry said. "I looked down to grab it, and the hit (by Northmont freshman Kurt Coleman) wasn't that much. I was kind of dragged down, and my head went to the side."

Gentry's mother, Gloria, was there: "We knew it was serious immediately. He couldn't move anything."

He'd broken the C-4 vertebra. After two surgeries to fuse neck vertebra and add titanium plates, and now three months of rehab, he's regained use of one arm, but has minimal control of the other. He can't move his legs.

Thursday was the first time he and his family spoke publicly about the ordeal. He came into the dressing room in a motorized wheelchair and immediately rolled over any semblance of self-pity:

"I've never questioned, 'Why me? Why did this happen?' It's like it was something thrown my way, something I had to do. The only question was, 'Why did it happen so easily?' "

Doctors, he said, have tried to answer that:

"One told me he's seen spinal injuries where someone was shot, and the bullet did a lot of damage, and they're up walking, while others had hardly anything, and they'll never walk again.

"I met a kid my age. He was just walking out of the ocean, and a wave hit him from behind, and he's the same way I am."

Yet it's another kid — 13-year-old Joe Ross from Centerville — who's struck a real chord.

After he was hurt, Gentry said he received more than 2,000 cards from people, and on his 21st birthday last week, he got another 500.

But Ross — hurt when he was slammed into the boards during a youth hockey game last year — is the one Gentry recalled Thursday:

"He broke his neck, the same injury I had, and he's walking around playing golf. He still wears a neck brace, but he's doing OK."

And that's Gentry's dream. So much so that when friends set up a trust fund for him through National City Bank, his dad first made sure it wouldn't compromise his college eligibility.

"Our goal is to one day give (that fund) away," Bob said. "We'll give it away when he walks."

Beneath the table, he, his wife and daughter still squeezed their hands tightly together.
 
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