MOVING FORWARD AFTER SPINAL INJURY VALLEY MAN HAS TRAINED TO WALK AGAIN IN MARATHON.Byline: Amy Raisin raisin, in botany and cooking raisin, dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun-dried. Darvish Staff Writer CASTAIC - In the months after Marc Richards Marc Richards born 8 July 1982 in Wolverhampton is a professional footballer who plays as striker. He currently plays for Port Vale. Marc started his career at Blackburn Rovers making his debut in a Worthington Cup tie against West Ham United in October 2000. became 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. below the chest in 1998, the health-conscious husband and father had to learn how to live his life using a wheelchair. More than six years later, he set his mind to learning something far more difficult, something he had taken for granted Adj. 1. taken for granted - evident without proof or argument; "an axiomatic truth"; "we hold these truths to be self-evident" axiomatic, self-evident obvious - easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors" for the decades of his life leading up to his injury. He was determined to walk. And walk he did. Not in the way he had walked before an error in medication - he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment after the removal of a brain tumor Brain Tumor Definition A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. Unlike other tumors, brain tumors spread by local extension and rarely metastasize (spread) outside the brain. in January 1998 - robbed Richards of the use of his body from the chest down. With the help of a trainer, custom-fit leg braces and a determination that burns inside him, he did walk. ``After I became injured there was denial, like this can't be happening,'' Richards said last week in the kitchen of his Castaic home. ``Then there was a lot of anger that went on for quite a while. But I don't really have a choice at this point. Then about six months ago (my trainer) set up the marathon as a challenge to me, as a goal.'' That would be the Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon is an annual marathon held in Los Angeles, California since 1986. It was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. The race starts at about 8:15AM and runs through Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, the Crenshaw district, and , in which thousands of runners, walkers and wheelchair-bound athletes participate each March. Richards, who had worked his way up to chief information officer at Autoland when doctors discovered the brain tumor, achieved his goal last month and walked across the finish line before cheering fans and news cameras. After training almost every day for six months, Richards, 46, started his portion of the race 400 feet shy of the finish line. Wearing leg braces molded to fit his body and using forearm crutches for stability, he walked across the finish line and into a new chapter in his life. ``It took me about 20 minutes. I was pretty exhausted when I crossed that finish line,'' he said. ``But my family, my wife and my kids, were there screaming and cheering. (Race officials) had to keep people away from me - there were racers coming in, some of them delirious de·lir·i·ous adj. Of, suffering from, or characteristic of delirium. - and then my name comes out on the loudspeaker loudspeaker or speaker, device used to convert electrical energy into sound. It consists essentially of a thin flexible sheet called a diaphragm that is made to vibrate by an electric signal from an amplifier. . It was probably the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.'' Six days Richards, a longtime vegan vegan /veg·an/ (ve´gan) (vej´an) a vegetarian whose diet excludes all food of animal origin. ve·gan n. who prided himself on staying in shape by regular visits to the gym and enjoying outdoor activities, and Nancy, his wife since 1989, were alarmed when he suffered a grand mal seizure grand mal seizure n. A sudden attack or convulsion characterized by generalized muscle spasms and loss of consciousness; it is recurrent in grand mal. Also called generalized tonic-clonic seizure. in January 1998. After doctors removed the golf ball-size tumor tumor: see neoplasm. that had caused the seizure, Richards went home to then-6-year-old son Jacob and daughter Sami, then 3. What happened next would turn the lives of the family of four upside down. In March of that same year, Richards was prescribed chemotherapy pills to kill any remaining cancerous cells. He took two pills a day for six days - using 12 of the 20 pills in the prescription bottle. Preferring not to delve too deeply into specific details, Richards said the proper dosage is to take a total of two pills on the first day, then no more, with a scheduled shot at the hospital to follow six days later. Unknowingly, Richards had overdosed on the extremely strong medication, ingesting five times more than the correct dose over six days. The pills are essentially poison, Richards said, which is what kills the cancerous cells. But the overdose also ate away at the myelin sheath myelin sheath n. The insulating envelope of myelin that surrounds the core of a nerve fiber or axon and that facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses, formed from the cell membrane of the Schwann cell in the peripheral nervous system and from that protects the spinal cord spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. . Hospitalized once the doctors realized the grave mistake, Richards went to step out of his hospital bed on May 2, 1998, to use the restroom and his legs collapsed under him. ``May 1 was the last time I was able to use my legs,'' he said. ``When I got out of bed the next day, I just fell to the floor. There was litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. (related to the overdose) and I will say that me and my family are OK. But I still deal with some of that anger today. Six days. I took those pills for six days. I just have to push those thoughts out of my mind sometimes.'' A new life Richards' wife, a teacher and school administrator for the last 17 years, said everything changed the day Marc was injured. While her husband struggled with denial in the two to three months after he became paralyzed, she never experienced that emotion. ``No, I knew it was real right away,'' she said. ``I suppose it was just shock in the very beginning. And anger, yes. My son, he was young but he was just so angry. ... Sami, she was so young that she only really remembers her dad (after the injury). But there came a point where I just had to stop doing everything for him.'' Richards said her husband, like many people who become paralyzed and spend long stretches in the hospital after their injuries, came home with a mentality that he couldn't do anything on his own. She indulged that misconception mis·con·cep·tion n. A mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding: had many misconceptions about the new tax program. in the beginning, she said, but eventually helped him to see that he could be independent again. Modifications to the house followed and Richards began taking the city bus to go run errands and go to the gym. But there were occasions when the wheelchair lift on the bus would not work and Richards was stranded. Last August, however, Richards and his wife purchased a customized minivan that allows him to drive himself to appointments, to pick up his children, to live like an independent man. ``Oh, it just changed my life,'' he said of his van. ``It just freed me up. I absolutely love it.'' His wife said the van has helped bring Jacob, 13, and his father closer together, too. ``Since we got the van, Marc can do so many of the things that dads do with their children,'' she said. ``They go to the gym together. Jacob said to me recently, 'Mom, Dad and I are really bonding.''' Weekend racer Richards and his trainer, Taylor-Kevin Isaacs, a clinical physiologist and certified exercise and strength specialist, continue to set goals for him. The next is on Saturday at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , where Richards will compete in a 5K wheelchair race and complete the final 400 feet on foot, like he did at the Los Angeles Marathon. They are also in the early stages of planning to open a facility that Richards calls a cross between Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an international chain of co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as "gyms") originally started in California by Joe Gold. Each gym features a wide array of exercise equipment and personal trainers to assist clients. and CSUN's Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled, a place that will be open and accessible to people like Richards. ``We need to have a place with all the specialized equipment of the center, but that's open (extended hours) like Gold's Gym,'' Richards said. ``The center is only open at certain times for students and instruction. It's still in the early stages, but this is something we're going to make happen.'' Amy Raisin Darvish, (661) 257-5254 amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Marc Richards of Castaic looks back at the leg braces that helped him walk the final distance of the L.A. Marathon this year. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion