Who Inspires Us
The goal of the Living Well With A Disability program is to open up opportunities; educate individuals of possibilities; and encourage both the youth and the mature, to know they too can rock climb, write a book, or do anything they put their mind to. We would like to share with you some of the stories that we've come across; the people that have made a difference in our lives, and continue to uplift others.
- Setting a New Goal and Accomplishing It
- Nathan's Carry
- Everett's injury hits home for former football player
Setting a New Goal and Accomplishing It
In September 2006, Lamont Warren's life changed. One minute he was playing pick up football with his friends, and the next, he was on his way to the hospital to learn he suffered from a spinal cord injury, causing the loss of mobility from his neck down. The doctors told Lamont he may not walk again.
Lamont listened to the doctors, but he was determined to prove them wrong. Those words weren't going to make him give up; instead, he decided he would fight through it to walk again. "It was another goal for me to accomplish," said Lamont. He wasn't sure who to turn to, but he didn't get depressed; instead, he took action.
It was in the hospital when Lamont first became familiar with The Center for Independent Living of Central PA (CILCP) and its services. United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) provided Lamont with a list of different agencies available to provide assistance and resources, and CILCP was one of them. Lamont contacted CILCP, and a CILCP specialist visited him in the hospital to educate him of the organization, its services and how Lamont could be a part of the organization.
Following the meeting at the hospital, Lamont began rehabilitation at Hershey Medical Center and started receiving attendant care services from CILCP. CILCP's attendant care services, now known as the personal assistance services, enable people with disabilities to remain in their home and receive assistance with performing daily living activities and participating in the community. The consumer/employee program provides Lamont with assistance around the house, getting his prescriptions filled, and other daily activities.
CILCP's community integration specialist, Jesse Swoyer also met with Lamont to learn more about his interests and goals. One of Lamont's goals was to become active again in the gym, but it was challenging due to the lack of accessibility with equipment in gyms. No sooner did Lamont express his hopes, and Jesse introduced him to the Living Well With A Disability Fitness Center. Lamont immediately became excited and wanted to be a consumer of the Fitness Center.
Today, Lamont, age 21, is actively working out in the Living Well With A Disability Fitness Center with Jesse, who's certified to instruct and train. Because of Lamont's devotion to the rehabilitation program and working out at the Fitness Center, he regained mobility, and continues to build his strength and balance. "I had to train my brain to move my body again. It was hard, but I kept pushing."
He visits the Fitness Center two times a week in addition to his rehabilitation program at Hershey Medical Center. Each visit he continues to grow stronger and reach his goal to walk again.
"When I got hurt, I looked at it as having another goal to accomplish. Any advice I can give to individuals with disabilities is to keep pushing; keep striving. You can't give up. Just because you have a disability doesn't mean life has to change. You have to work around your injury – life isn't over, " Lamont said.
Nathan's Carry
Youth football is often filled with many exciting days for families and friends to gather and enjoy sunny afternoons and starry eyed kids as they play one of America's favorite pastimes. It was one of these beautiful days that I happened to be taking pictures of the days action between the Mechanicsburg Wildcat Pony's and the West Shore Vikings. It happened that the Wildcats were in control of the game and were winning handily. The coaches from both teams were in a constant state of substituting players in and out, yelling in directions, and calling the offensive and defensive plays. The referees were throwing the brightly colored yellow flags and patiently wading through every objection thrown their way. Parents on the sidelines chanted cheers with the cheerleaders and rooted for each of their perspective wide eyed gridiron kids. The day was as every day when it comes to local youth football in "anytown USA," filled with excitement.
As the game clock ticked down to its very last second and the parents began to stir with anticipation of its end, I noticed that one of our coaches walked onto the field to speak to the head referee. I wondered what he could be saying given the end of the game was only a few seconds away. The referee walked over to the opposing sideline to speak to their coach and proceeded back onto the field to finish the game. As the last second ticked off of the clock, I prepared my camera for the next game of the day, when I noticed the teams were not leaving the field. I then noticed a player jogging onto the field into the Wildcat backfield. I didn't see any flags on the field and the clock remained at zero, so I watched. Each team lined up for one last play, the play that would motivate me to write this story. Number "62," Nathan Cavanaugh was lined up in the half back position and was ready to take the hand off from the quarterback. I steadied my camera and began to snap as Nathan took the handoff and ran down the sidelines for a touchdown? The Viking defenders seemed to pursue, but didn't lay one hand on Nathan as he crossed the goal line for his first touchdown.
Nathan is no ordinary running back, in fact he doesn't even have a running back's number. Most days Nathan doesn't get in the game and hasn't, until this year, even played football. But this story, in my mind, is not really about football at all, it is a story of a young man who is overcoming his daily struggles to participate in an activity so many of us take for granted. Nathan suffers from a mild form of Autism called Aspergers. Autism affects 1 in 150 individuals and is often the cause for these kids being misunderstood by their peers and others. Some of the symptoms of Aspergers can be heightened sensitivity to noise and light, unusual facial expressions or postures and a dislike for changes in routine. As you can see these symptoms do not go hand in hand with football, but Nathan, with help from his parents and his coaches are finding ways to help him enjoy football. At the beginning of the year, Nathan came to his parents to ask if he could play football. Initially his mother was very hesitant with the idea, but after coaxing from Nathan and his dad, mom agreed to let Nathan become a football player for the Mechanicsburg Wildcats.
In a world with its share of negative headlines, Nathan's story and those who have helped to make Nathan's experience fun, is a story I felt was worth telling.
Today, Nathan has lost about 20 pounds, made new friends, and has enjoyed his new found place as a Wildcat. He enjoys watching the Steelers on TV with his dad and his favorite player is Hines Ward. You will often see Nathan on the sidelines following Coach Joe Russel in anticipation of his next chance to carry the pigskin for the Wildcats.
Mr. & Mrs. Cavanaugh wished to thank all of the Pony Wildcats players and the coaching staff for supporting their son.
"Hope is often found through the actions of others..."
Terry N Barr, CILCP Board Member
Everett's injury hits home for former football player
By David Wenner of The Patriot-News, 09/14/07
It felt like a force was pushing up on his facemask. That's all Theo Braddy could feel as he lay face down on the football field with a broken neck. His head was the only part of his body that could sense contact with the ground. He felt nothing below his neck. He couldn't move. Braddy was a 15-year-old linebacker at a Georgia high school. His injury was similar to the one sustained last Sunday by NFL player Kevin Everett. Braddy never walked again.
Now 47, Braddy is executive director of The Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania. He's married and has two children. He made peace with his injury long ago. But first he endured months of anguish.
Even now, with his personal experience and a master's degree in social work, he said he has little to offer someone who has just become paralyzed. He'd rather talk to them later, when they've stopped focusing on what they used to do and have begun focusing on what they can do. "During those first months, you don't want to hear anything from anybody," he says. "Eventually, you get to a place where you completely understand what the future holds. Then you decide whether you're going to give up or go on with your life."
Following the 1975 injury, Braddy was sent to a hospital in Augusta, Ga., an hour from his home. He was there for four months. After about two weeks, a doctor explained he was probably paralyzed. Actually, doctors thought he would die - if not from the injury, then from depression, says his sister, Annie Phillips of Harrisburg. But Braddy constantly thought of playing football and basketball again. It was a bleak and confusing time. He believed Hollywood images of people who "beat the odds." Family members prayed over him, telling him if he showed sufficient faith, he would walk.
Braddy, who didn't develop a strong faith until much later, felt guilty that he couldn't move a muscle. He was sent to a rehabilitation hospital, also far from home, where he spent a year. There, he met a therapist who made a world of difference, encouraging him and pushing him relentlessly. Braddy's mind was evolving, accepting new priorities and goals. He realized he had to focus on the mental aspects of life. An early goal was to feed himself, then to propel his own wheelchair. Eventually, he gained significant use of his arms. Braddy still has no movement below his chest or in his fingers.
Today, his time in the hospital before rehabilitation would be days, not months, says Dr. Jonas Sheehan, a neurosurgeon at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The major advancements involve techniques to minimize damage and deterioration in tissues surrounding an injured spinal cord, minimizing the amount of function that's lost permanently, Sheehan said. Surgeons can stabilize a damaged spine, rather than waiting for it to heal. That allows rehabilitation to begin shortly after injury, maximizing the return of function. But one thing that hasn't changed is doctors' ability to fix a damaged spinal cord. There's still no way to bridge the gap in a damaged section, Sheehan said. Buffalo Bills' reserve tight end Everett's doctors were encouraged this week that he was awake and breathing on his own and said it's possible he might someday walk.
Braddy returned to his mother's small home after the rehabilitation hospital. Braddy's father was dead. His mother, with two other sons at home, struggled to care for him. He went to a nursing home. It was his own decision, according to his sister. "He must have seen something in [his mother's] eyes, that she had worn herself," Phillips says. All the while, he and family members held out hope he might fully recover.
Phillips and another sister had moved to Harrisburg. In 1979, they brought him here, thinking he might receive better medical care and be cured. He went to the former Elizabethtown Crippled Children's Hospital, where he earned a high school equivalency diploma. Then he went to a state vocational facility for the disabled. He enrolled in Harrisburg Area Community College, then transferred to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He had a breakthrough at Edinboro, where he fell in with a group of students studying social work. They accepted and understood him. He recognized social work and advocacy as a worthy field in which he was highly capable. After graduation, he enrolled in Temple University, where he earned a master's degree. In his current job, one of his main focuses is helping people navigate what he calls the "maze of confusion" that confronts disabled people as they try to access various programs and figure out how to attain a high quality of life.
Because Braddy spent more than a year away from home following his injury, he lost contact with all of his friends except one, Albert Young. Young, who owns an auto repair shop in Georgia, believed for years his friend would walk again. A decade after the injury, he traveled to Pennsylvania and brought Braddy back to Georgia. He remembers helping Braddy bathe, and talking about how Braddy would walk again. Later that night, Braddy explained that, short of a medical breakthrough, he would never walk. Young felt a new admiration for his friend's courage. "That was really something to see. Sometimes we don't think these things make a difference until we're involved," he says.
Today, Braddy doesn't watch football. He saw Kevin Everett's injury on the news. It sent a bolt through him. He tells parents not to worry about their children playing football- such injuries are rare, resulting from an unlikely set of circumstances. He firmly believes a bright, productive future can await even a young athlete who sustains a damaged spine. Yet a part of him still yearns to walk and run. "I still have dreams where I'm playing basketball and football," he says. "I get sad sometimes when I wake up from a good dream like that."
Courtesy of PennLive.com
