INJURED - Shepherd Center

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{ { { Determined to Compete After a football injury, one young athlete finds strength again in sport. By Cathy M. Rosenthal Photos by Gary Meek Four years ago, Matthew Sanchez was a sophomore football player for Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fairburn, Ga. Just a few minutes into a Friday night game, Mercy trailed Pacelli High School, 14-0. Matthew was pushing hard to get Mercy on the scoreboard. During one play, though, as he swept around for the tackle, he fell forward, hitting another player head on. 16 Spinal column
Matthew was thrown backward and recalls feeling the worst pain of his life. “I felt like I was on fire,” he says. “But then the pain eased up. I tried to get up. That’s when I realized I couldn’t move.” Panic set in as he realized he had no feeling in his body, Matthew says. He remembers his friends moving out of view as coaches ran in to see what had happened. Suddenly, a doctor was kneeling over him holding his head still. “People were talking all around me,” Matthew says. “But I don’t remember what anyone said.” In the meantime, Matthew’s mom, Lorraine Sanchez Hayes, was working a concession stand when she received word Matthew was hurt. She didn’t like her 150 pound, 6-feet, 1-inch son playing football, but, “What mother does?” she says. The family agreed early on that if there was ever an injury on the field, mom would stay on the sidelines until Matthew’s dad, Rudjard, called from the field. “But he didn’t call,” Lorraine says. “I kept calling his cell phone, but he wouldn’t pick up. By the time he waved me over, I knew things were very bad.” Matthew was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center. “When we first saw the X-rays of his neck, my husband just fell into me,” Lorraine recalls. “He knew from the X-ray what was wrong, but I needed doctors to tell me that Matthew’s C-5 vertebra was shattered. ‘Could he die?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ the doctors said. From that moment on, nothing seemed real.” Matthew was transferred that night to Shepherd Center. Fortunately, the space between his spinal column and the vertebrae was larger than normal, so his spinal cord had not been severed by the broken bone. After surgery at Piedmont Hospital adjacent to Shepherd Center, Matthew regained some feeling in his legs and right arm, but was told he might never walk again. Matthew, however, surprised everyone two weeks later when he stood up and took a few steps. He began therapy to strengthen his legs and walked out of the hospital just a month after his injury. Six months later, he told his family he wanted to run cross-country track for his high school. “Oh, everyone thought I was crazy,” Matthew says. “But I was determined to compete again.” Matthew pushed past the “pains and spasms,” he says, to train with the track team that spring and run in two cross-country races the next fall. In his senior year, he became part of the boys’ 400- meter relay team, which made it to the state track championship meet. In summer 2008, he ran a length of the torch relay for the Special Olympics. “It’s not been easy doing these things,” Matthew says. “But it’s been important for me to push as hard as I can.” As a sophomore at the University of Georgia, he joined the triathlon team, adding cycling and swimming to his daily activities. Now as a sophomore, he’s preparing for a 4,500-mile TransAmerican bike ride this summer to benefit Shepherd’s SHARE Initiative, a program that provides additional care to promote the recovery of military men and women from combat-related injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The staff at Shepherd played a huge role in my recovery – from teaching me how to tie my shoes again to writing my name,” Matthew says. “I am so thankful and want to help Shepherd so they can help others find their strength, too.” For more information on Matthew Sanchez’s bike ride, visit http://mattstransamride.blogspot.com. Previous page: Former spinal cord injury patient Matthew Sanchez of Newnan, Ga., is a member of the University of Georgia triathlon team and is preparing for a 4,500-mile bike ride this summer to raise money for Shepherd Center’s SHARE Initiative, which provides additional care to U.S. soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Above: Before sustaining an incomplete C-5 spinal cord injury while playing football, Matthew Sanchez never swam much. Now – even though swimming remains a challenge to him because his left arm is weaker than his right – Matthew swims daily as part of his triathlon training. winter 2009 17
Page 1 and 2: { THE MAGAZINE OF SHEPHERD CENTER |
Page 3 and 4: Spinal Column: The Magazine of Shep
Page 5 and 6: Extensive Study at Shepherd Center
Page 7 and 8: IN THE DUTY LINE OF Pat Cocciolone
Page 9 and 10: “From what I was told, it was so
Page 11 and 12: “Nothing is coming back yet as fa
Page 13 and 14: Photo by Leita Cowart Above: Marcus
Page 15 and 16: Above, from left to right: Dr. Denn
Page 17: { { Q & A ask the Doc Shepherd Cent
Page 21 and 22: Caroline adds, “I’m so hopeful
Page 23 and 24: Photo by Jim Fitts Legendary Party
Page 25 and 26: FOUNDATION Legendary Party Chairman
Page 27 and 28: FOUNDATION { 2008 LEGENDARY PARTY S
Page 29 and 30: FOUNDATION 2008 Shepherd Center Cup
Page 31 and 32: FOUNDATION New Shepherd Center Volu
Page 33 and 34: FOUNDATION Photo by Leita Cowart De
Page 35 and 36: FOUNDATION One Rider’s Cycle of L
Page 37 and 38: { { LOVING TRIBUTES Julie and David
Page 39 and 40: { { LOVING TRIBUTES Joan Versailles

INJURED - Shepherd Center

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