ALCOHOL LEAVES ATHLETE WONDERING : ACCIDENT RESULTED IN BRAIN DAMAGE.Byline: Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a U.S. novelist and newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, radio host, and TV commentator. He is a graduate of Akiba Hebrew Academy, Brandeis University, and Columbia University. Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. In his last happy moments, he was a guy you might have envied. Handsome, athletic, 6-feet-2, water-blue eyes, a charmer charm·er n. 1. One that charms, especially a disarmingly attractive person. 2. One who casts spells; an enchanter or magician. Noun 1. with women. It was close to Christmas and his buddies were out at the Goat Farm bar on Novi Road. John Foley John Foley may refer to:
Maybe he talked about the glory days at Northville High, when he dunked on the basketball team. Maybe he slapped a few backs and laughed the careless laugh of youth. Then he went to another late party, did some more drinking. Then he decided to visit a girl out in Ypsilanti. He got into the Oldsmobile station wagon, the alcohol swimming in his blood, turned the key and sped off into the darkness. The next happy moment was when someone slid a plate of bacon under his nose, and his eyes sprang open at the familiar aroma. But it was brief, and it was felt only by his mother and father, who hovered anxiously over a hospital bed, praying that the smell of his favorite food would bring John out of his coma. The moment died, the reaction a mere reflex, and his eyes shut back into darkness, unable to see the damage he had done: the shunt To divert, switch or bypass. in his skull, the cuts on his liver, the spleen that was removed, the leg that was snapped, the eye that was blinded, the cheekbone cheek·bone n. See zygomatic bone. and jaw that were broken, the internal bleeding For the death metal band, see . Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. Causes It may be caused by high blood pressure (by causing blood vessel rupture) or other forms of injury, especially high speed deceleration occurring during an automobile , the paralysis, and, worst of all, the damaged brain that meant no more dunking basketballs for John Foley, no more pitching baseballs, no more speaking or even thinking the way he used to do. He was only a few weeks older than that last happy night. Nobody envied him now. This is a story about how the world changes in an instant. Christmas Eve launches many a drunk-driving story. Some end in death, and those are frightening enough. This one ends in life. This one ends not in how you might leave this world, but how you might rejoin it, damaged forever, limping uphill. This one is the most frightening of all. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. , I don't know. It's done, it's done, it's done. . . '' John Foley is smiling, but it is a confused smile, his blue eyes Blue eyes are eyes that have blue irises (see eye color), and may also refer to:
``What about the sports you played?'' he is asked. ``Can you remember those?'' ``It's done; it's just done.'' ``The sports you played?'' ``Oh, basketball. I played basketball. Yeah. I could dunk.'' ``What other sports?'' ``Track. Uh-huh. Track.'' ``What events?'' ``Um . . . um . . . wait . . . '' He wiggles wiggles - [scientific computation] In solving partial differential equations by finite difference and similar methods, wiggles are sawtooth (up-down-up-down) oscillations at the shortest wavelength representable on the grid. his fingers back and forth, like someone running. ``When you go from here'' - he flops one hand over the other - ``to there.'' ``Pole vault pole vault Track-and-field event consisting of a vault for height over a crossbar with the aid of a long pole. It became a competitive sport in the mid-19th century and was included in the first modern Olympic Games. ?'' ``No.'' ``Long jump?'' ``No.'' ``High jump?'' ``Yeah, yeah, high jump, high jump. I went'' - he counts quickly on his fingers - ``One-two-three-four-five-six . . . yeah, six, I went six.'' ``Six steps?'' ``Six steps. I went six steps.'' In such snapping flashes does his old life return. He has to count sometimes, he can't remember many words, and you can see through his still-charming eyes the terrible battle going on inside his brain. And yet, this is major progress from where he was the night of that crash on North Territorial Road, a collision so bad, rescue workers needed to pry him from the wreck, then take him by helicopter to the hospital. At least once during the 10 hours of surgery that followed, John Foley was headed for the angels. His breathing stopped. The doctors revived him. Later John would ask, ``Why didn't I die?'' Sometimes he would add, ``Why couldn't I die?'' His coma lasted six weeks. He was strapped inside an electric bed, which tilted back and forth to keep his lungs from clogging. Tubes invaded his body. Bandages wrapped his head. Day after day, his mother, Colleen - who had yelled a cheery ``Be careful'' when he went out that night - sat beside his bed, telling him family news, hoping he would acknowledge her. His father, Jack, who had hoped to take his son into the family medical supply business, would prop up John's hand and pretend to arm-wrestle him, always faking a struggle before letting John win. Maybe the old competitive spirit might stir him back to life, Jack figured. This is what you do when you love someone; you try everything. Finally, one day, after months of empty hope, Jack lifted the limp arm and let his son win another make-believe match. John looked at him and smiled. His father burst into tears. Thus began an agonizing return to the land of the living; his right side was paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. , his left eye blind, his first words
First Words is a Canadian hip hop group, consisting of Halifax beatmaker Jorun, DJ STV and emcees Sean One & Above. did not come for weeks, he did not remember how to chew or swallow food. John Foley was still 22 years old. When he finally could speak, the words he mumbled, over and over, were these: ``I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'' There is a photo of Foley on the Northville basketball team, rising for a jump shot with perfect form, legs straight, arm bent, eyes on the rim. It is from the year Northville played Detroit Cooley in the state tournament, taking on future NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= player Roy Tarpley Roy James Tarpley (born November 28 1964, in New York, New York) is an American former professional basketball player, who was notable during his career for being banned from the NBA. . Foley looks completely natural shooting, as if he had done it a million times. After the crash, however, nothing was natural. The closed-head injury damaged the frontal lobe frontal lobe n. The largest portion of each cerebral hemisphere, anterior to the central sulcus. Frontal lobe The largest, most forward-facing part of each side or hemisphere of the brain. of his brain, affecting his speech, motor skills, long-term memory long-term memory n. Abbr. LTM The phase of the memory process considered the permanent storehouse of retained information. long-term memory , and learning. Thanks to beer, the adult beverage, John Foley was a child again. What is a sock? What is a toothbrush? How do you tie your shoes? A fork, a comb, a pencil - what are these things for? He needed to be taught everything. His nurse would tap his leg rhythmically and sing the Michigan fight song, ``The Victors,'' and amazingly, John could sing along - that, he remembered. But when the song stopped, he could not form a word; he could noDt answer even the simplest of questions. Somewhere in the deep canyons of his mind, he remembered his life; he did not remember how to operate it. When he finally came home in the late spring, he was moving a little better and mumbling mum·ble v. mum·bled, mum·bling, mum·bles v.tr. 1. To utter indistinctly by lowering the voice or partially closing the mouth: mumbled an insincere apology. a few phrases. Wheelchair-bound, he could not go up the steps to his old room. For some reason, this became an obsession. He would look at the stairs each day with a sad longing. One morning, his mother and sisters found him out of his chair, on the floor by the bottom step. ``John, what are you doing?'' his mother yelled. He turned his body backward, like a child, and began to lift himself, one step at a time. ``But John, you can't . . . '' ``Watch,'' he grunted. One step, two steps, his arms straining to push his rear end another six inches higher, his face tight with effort, grunting as he went along. His mother was in tears. His sisters, at the top of the stairs, were crying, too. It seemed to take forever. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Jack Foley, left, son John and wife Colleen make up a family portrait that almost wasn't after a drunk-driving crash nearly killed John. Karin Anderson / Detroit Free Press |
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