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Injured Buckeye hopes to walk back into Ohio Stadium
Friday, July 28, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Through the darkest moments — the surgeries and the endless hours with therapists bending and stretching his rubbery limbs — Tyson Gentry thought about others he 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, making him laugh and 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.”
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=299168&Category=17
Gentry shares ordeal with optimism
Friday, July 28, 2006
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus -- Among the 2,500 letters and cards Tyson Gentry estimates he's received since hitting the ground at Ohio Stadium 15 weeks ago and feeling nothing, one simple phrase of support has stuck with him:
"When one Buckeye is down, we're all down."
The players, coaches, family, friends and fans of Ohio State should draw strength then from Gentry's appearance inside the new OSU locker room at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday. Entering the room in a motorized wheelchair he controls with his right hand, wearing an Ohio State T-shirt and a fingernail-sized gold guardian angel pin, Gentry's head was up.
It was propped up by a headrest on his chair. But it was definitely up.
Speaking freely, once coughing weakly, sipping water from a straw held by his mother, Gloria, Gentry smiled when talking about football, his two years as a walk-on punter and receiver, the scarlet home jersey his teammates gave him for his 21st birthday last week. And he frankly explained his injury -- a broken C4 vertebra -- that left him motionless in the Horseshoe, in intensive care for a week and now in a wheelchair.
He can use his arms, his right better than his left, though not his fingers. He can't move his legs, but has feeling all over his body, feeling that has gradually improved though he can't yet distinguish hot, cold or pain. He has battled infections, in fact has one now, but has moved from a rehab center at Ohio State into an apartment with his sister, Ashley, though he'll need other care, including someone to help roll him in his bed several times a night.
And walking? Four months after Penn State's Adam Taliaferro broke his C5 vertebra against the Buckeyes in September 2003, he was taking baby steps. Gentry's injury -- the catch during a team scrimmage, the ball slipping from his hands as he looked down to secure the ball, the tackle that wasn't really a hit dragging him to the ground awkwardly, the trainers and Jim Tressel heading onto the field, his parents in the stands, edging out of their seats, his mother riding with him in the ambulance, Tyson awake and aware of it all -- happened on April 14. Not quite four months.
Following two surgeries to fuse together other vertebrae, Tyson said the doctors tried to prepare him for the chance that it will get no better. Some patients with more severe spinal injuries walk again, some with less severe injuries don't. Friends have started a trust fund -- his father, Bob, a Buckeye defensive back under Woody Hayes from 1973-75, has a goal for the money:
"We'll give it away when he walks."
Bob, Gloria and Ashley Gentry held hands as they watched Tyson speak Thursday. There were no tears, just the glowing pride of a son and brother so strong -- Tyson actually finished one of his spring classes from the hospital so he could stay on track for his psychology/speech pathology double major this fall. Pride in a family bond so tight it didn't need to be strengthened by adversity -- Tyson told his father he's glad it's him, because he loves Ashley and his other sister, Natalie, too much to have seen them face this battle.
"I never questioned, Why me?' " Gentry said. "I am really thankful for that fact. It always seemed like this is something I had to do, it was thrown my way."
As with the pass thrown to the Sandusky kid who always wanted to be a Buckeye, he's doing all he can to catch it.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1154076010323710.xml&coll=2
Keeping his spirits up
JASON LLOYD, Morning Journal Writer
07/28/2006
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THE ball began to slip. It's why Tyson Gentry looked down. It's why his head was turned slightly when he fell to the ground.
The ball began to slip.
It was April 14 and Ohio State was going through a typical spring scrimmage in the Horseshoe. Gentry, a punter and receiver during his time as a walk-on, was working with the receivers. He caught a pass, felt the ball begin to slip and looked down to grab it. He was hit by freshman defensive back Kurt Coleman and both players fell down.
The hit was as typical as the afternoon until that moment. Nothing vicious -- not even particularly hard. Just a normal tackle during a normal scrimmage.
''It only took a matter of seconds. I knew it was serious,'' Gentry said. ''I was laying on the ground and I knew I couldn't move. For about three seconds, I was hoping maybe it was a stinger, just a temporary thing.''
Sitting in the Ohio Stadium stands that day, watching her son fall, Gloria Gentry kept repeating the same thing.
''Move something ... C'mon Tyson, move something!''
Tyson never moved. He lay motionless on the field, the same field where former Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro laid motionless as a freshman six years ago.
As he lay there, Gentry had difficulty breathing. He feared he broke a vertebrae high enough in his neck that he'd be unable to breathe. He looked over to the sideline and saw his teammates staring back at him, waiting for him to move. As Coleman stood up after the play, Gentry couldn't see his face, but he could sense something was wrong, just by Coleman's actions.
''I didn't even try to move,'' he said. ''I knew I couldn't.''
Within minutes, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel signaled for his parents to come down on the field. As they approached the fence, Gloria turned to her husband, Bob.
''I'm scared. I'm really scared.''
---
Athletics have always been a huge part of the Gentry family. Bob was a defensive back at Ohio State in the mid-'70s, then Bob and Gloria coached many of their children's volleyball and baseball teams.
Tyson's oldest sister, Natalie, was a state high jump champion and later competed at Ohio State. The middle child, Ashley, was a volleyball player at Capital.
Tyson played football at Perkins and was part of the 400 meter relay team that finished runners-up at state two years ago.
When it came time for Tyson to pick a college, he had a couple of choices. When Tressel offered the opportunity to be a preferred walk-on, the decision became simple.
''I wasn't expecting to go anywhere and make a significant impact,'' he said. ''I just like playing football ... It was an unbelievable dream come true to be able to play here.''
Tyson grew up an avid Buckeyes fan. It's what made his Saturday afternoons in Ohio Stadium so special.
''You'd be in the locker room before the game and your jersey would be hanging in your locker,'' he said. ''I'd just love holding onto it and staring at it for awhile before putting it on my shoulder pads.''
For his 21st birthday last week, his teammates gave him a home jersey as his gift.
''I love that jersey,'' he said.
Tyson is paralyzed from the waist down today and in an electric wheelchair that he can move with his fingers. He has regained use of both biceps, but his triceps, wrists and fingers move only slightly. He can feel touch all over his body, but he can't feel hot or cold or pain.
Still, the little movement he's regained in his hands and upper body over the last three months is hope that more improvement is still to come.
The hit broke his C4 vertebrae and left him in intensive care for a week. He has lost 25 pounds in three months. Setbacks have occurred -- a urinary tract infection, a staph infection in his back that he is still fighting -- but not even a broken neck has broken his spirit. Gentry can only recall one or two moments when this battle really got him down, and his father says the family has never had a bad day.
The resolve and fight within the Gentry family is just as stunning as the initial injury.
''Our strength as a family is kind of tough to beat,'' Bob said. ''We didn't have to say ÔGeez, I wish we'd have done this' or ÔWhy didn't we think of that?' We didn't have regrets of any kind. That's not us as a family.''
Cards began pouring in -- hundreds a day -- from all over the country and even all over the world. Joe Theismann called a couple times. Taliaferro and Notre Dame folk hero Rudy Ruettiger called while Tyson was still in intensive care.
Two of Bob Gentry's close friends in Sandusky started a trust fund in Tyson's name. For his birthday last week, Tyson estimated he received 500 birthday wishes from strangers he'll probably never meet.
Altogether, the outpouring of support overwhelmed the Gentrys. It's the main reason they went public yesterday for the first time -- as a way to say thank you to so many strangers.
''Those stories don't get told enough,'' Tyson said. ''There are so many good people out there. People who I have no idea at all who they are, people who didn't know me at all before this. They still took the time to get a card, fill it out and mail it. It's really blown me away with the amount of cards from people I've gotten. It's been a really neat experience.''
---
In his first season as a grad assistant at Akron in 1975, Jim Tressel watched a player collapse and die at his feet.
It was the Zips' season opener against Marshall, and Tressel was a young 22 year old just starting out. Chris Angeloff was on the field during a punt. After a fair catch, Angeloff turned to walk off the field, collapsed in front of Tressel and died of cardiac arrest.
That night, Tressel was driving to the film lab in Cleveland to get the game film developed and wondering if football was really worth it.
''I remember sitting there in the middle of the night on Carnegie Avenue wondering, ÔWhat am I doing?''' Tressel said.
Angeloff went to Berea High School, just like Tressel. Because they were so close in age and because they went to the same high school, Tressel said yesterday he viewed Angeloff's death more like that of a friend. Gentry's paralysis hit him much differently.
After Taliaferro was paralyzed during a game in Ohio Stadium in 2000, Penn State coach Joe Paterno walked off the charter jet in Happy Valley, got in his car and drove through the night back to Columbus to be by his side. Paterno described a helpless feeling then that Tressel now knows as well.
''I've lost a lot of games, and I've never enjoyed that,'' Tressel said. ''But I've never had a feeling like the one I had the day Tyson was injured. That's the only time I've had that feeling.
''I was a little more oblivious as a grad assistant. He was more like a friend. It's a little different when it's one of your children, which is the way I look at Tyson. I've never felt like that.''
Tressel and the players took a bus to Sandusky recently to attend a fundraiser in Gentry's honor. Tressel described it as a way for the town and the players to heal together.
''They felt good they would be able to help, but once they got there, they felt great,'' he said. ''They met all those people who were close to Tyson. They felt wonderful they went and they did a wonderful job with the townspeople there, because the players became the townspeople's connection to Tyson.''
---
Tyson is again enrolling at Ohio State in the fall to continue working on his double major in psychology and speech pathology. His sister, Ashley, moved into his apartment in Columbus to help care for him. She graduated from Capital and is still working out the last few details to take University of Dayton graduate courses through Capital.
That apartment is also where Bob has spent the better part of his weeks. Since he's a middle school teacher in the Perkins district, he's been able to devote much of his summer to Tyson in Columbus.
The goal, of course, is for Tyson to arise and walk again some day. No one really knows the odds of that because doctors are hesitant to give chances or percentages. Spinal injuries by nature are tricky and each case is unique.
Bob Gentry said Taliaferro was given a 3 percent chance to ever walk again, then 11 months after his injury, he was skipping and jogging out of the tunnel of Penn State's Beaver Stadium. Tyson has dreamed of a day like that, too.
''I have pictured that,'' he said. ''I have imagined what it would be like. I don't think I could even comprehend what it would be like emotionally. But that's definitely my goal, to be able to do that and thank the fans personally for all their support.''
Contributions to the Tyson Gentry trust fund can be made at any area National City Bank.
[email protected]
©The Morning Journal 2006
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16979042&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46370&rfi=6
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