Gallagher Interview

Jeremy’s Journey … back to Colorado Springs
By Jean Gallagher [September 2004]

Most of you have heard about 17-year old Jeremy Lanosga, the up-and-coming junior player who took a tragic fall at the Garden of the Gods last May. Most of what has been written has been from the community, trying to keep you posted about his accident and recovery. Now that Jeremy has had a chance to get a grip on his condition, I sat down with him for a private interview before he was released from Craig Hospital for his trip home to Colorado Springs. I asked questions that were hard to answer, and some that didn’t have answers. Many of his replies shape the complete reality about the rest of his life.

Who is this young man? Before the accident, Jeremy was a very active player, with plenty of talent. When I first met him, oh … I guess he was probably refereeing one of my matches. He was soft-spoken, quiet and all of 14. You’d see him at tournaments; always working on his game, watching and learning from higher level players and playing up a division to challenge his skills. I think he was playing Men’s C, along with his junior age-division events, when I first noticed him.

He was kind of lanky; a tall skinny kid trying to figure out where his arms and legs were in relation to the rest of his body. Then it was summer, when people take some time off from racquetball until the season rolls around again. In the fall you notice the changes, particularly in the juniors. They’d grown a foot, become coordinated somehow and suddenly begin to kick your butt on the court!

One year, not only had Jeremy grown a bunch, but I noticed he’d shaved his head! Reason? He did it for “Locks,” a program to donate hair to kids who have cancer and are in need of wigs. Jeremy’s hair wasn’t long enough to help with a wig, but he did it anyway, as a show of support for the group.

Locally, he was always volunteering to ref at tournaments. I thought it was just to earn money, but he was doing it to learn more about the game. What better way to observe shots and strategy first-hand, plus learn the rules, than to ref match after match after match? Some of you remember him from Nationals, where he refereed just about every match he could so he could pay his own tournament expenses, plus save up for the next big event. Need a ref? Jeremy was your man!

When he wasn’t playing racquetball, he loved to rock climb and take photos. He belonged to a local photo club and entered a competition to take pictures of the courthouse. His photographs were judged by a jury and they were eventually chosen to be displayed at the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs. The photos now belong to the museum. He was rock-climbing to take photos when he suffered his fall.

Imagine waking up in a hospital bed, unable to move an inch of your body. Not because someone told you not to, but because your nerves couldn’t make a connection from your brain to your hands or legs. Jeremy doesn’t remember much about the fall. “I rode my bike to the Garden of the Gods, started climbing and didn’t catch the sunrise before dark, so I took some shots anyway and started climbing back down. The last thing I remember was standing at about 50 feet from the ground. I don’t remember how I fell, or falling, but I do remember grabbing a bush at some point.”

He doesn’t remember the rescue, only what people have told him. He was told that three rescuers were injured trying to get him down the rest of the 20 feet to ground level. He was in ICU for ten days, and four days in recovery. During this time, his first recollection was of installing the halo, a device used to immobilize the vertebrae during the healing process.

After being transferred to Craig Hospital, the finest in the country for spinal cord and brain injuries, he was immediately put into physical and occupational therapy, once a day for both. His days began at 8:00 am when an aide would help him shower and get dressed. He needs assistance to eat and his manual therapist would visit daily to massage the muscles in his neck to increase his range of motion. Otherwise, he’d just hang out. “I can tell when nobody has stopped by to visit by the amount of boredom. I do a lot of hanging out.”

Jeremy found solace in the friends he has made at the hospital. When I would go to visit, I’d be competing with a poker game that he has set up with the other patients. But (usually) he’d make them wait until my visit was over … after all he is a true gentleman, not to mention he was the one with the chips.

“I’ve really appreciated the time that the racquetball community has made to come and see how I have been. My Mom feels most of the pressure, so if she can take a break, I know she values the time.”

Jeremy has five brothers and sisters, aged 22, 20, 11, 8 and 5. Right now, his household is busy with a lot of necessary changes. A renovation is underway, led by local racquetball player Eddie Meredith, who has pooled a group of contractors together to make the home wheelchair accessible. “Maybe they’ll build a racquetball court inside my house that has a door big enough to fit a wheelchair in.”

His Uncle John, who lives in Casper, Wyoming, has been a huge support as well. He comes down every Friday to relieve his sister, so she can tend to the rest of her family. Once the renovation is complete and Jeremy is at home, an aide will come in for 9-12 hours a day to help out so his mother can continue to work. “If the aide is a woman, I hope she’s good looking. If it’s a guy, I hope he’s cool so we can get along.”

Since the accident, Jeremy has endured a lingering infection in his left shoulder which limits his use of that arm. He can move both his arms, but with little control. His fingers have no movement, but with gravity, his hands can open up to grab food. It’s doubtful that he will ever be able to change his clothes by himself again. He cannot get in and out of his wheelchair alone. He has to be fed, unless his table is set up just right. He can answer the phone as long as it is left within reach, but he’s not able to dial just yet. He has to be driven any time he wants to get somewhere. Maybe, in a year or so, he might be able to drive himself, but only with a specially designed vehicle.

Finishing his education is a priority, eventually he will get a tutor to come in and help. He has been home schooled all his life, so going to a public school is not something he really wants. He doesn’t know yet where college will fit in or what his studies might be, but it is in his plans to get there.

He hasn’t lost his spirit. He’s still making jokes and trying to keep a positive look on the challenges ahead of him. He still likes to have fun. During one visit, Jeremy told me to get on the back of his wheelchair and ride to the therapy room to have his headrest adjusted. At first I thought he’d lost his mind, but his uncle encouraged it, saying that he does it all the time with his brothers and sisters. Jeremy handed me his neck brace and I hopped on, putting the brace around my own neck, as this was the only place it could go. We popped a wheelie and took off at speeds I only imagined a wheelchair could go. Can you picture this? As we zipped past nurses, therapists, other patients and visitors, they all just smiled and said, “Jeremy, why are you moving so slow today?” Ahem … could it have been the extra weight on the back?

“I haven’t died inside…the inside is all I have left. I want everyone to know that I will do everything I can to regain my strength again. Everything I wanted to do in life has been affected at great lengths. I’ll just have to come up with new goals. If this makes any sense, I wish I would’ve had some idea of what it was like in a wheelchair, you know, just for a short time, so this would not have been such an adjustment. I know you can’t plan the future or what will happen, so I am dealing with it. I won’t be here for life! Besides, there’s always poker!”

By now, during this particular visit, the phone had rung and the gang was asking where Jeremy was. I set the poker chips in his lap, and as I headed out, asked how he could still be a part of the racquetball community, especially with the juniors. He replied that he wants to be an inspiration, encouraging others to never give up. He doesn’t want anything to stop you from achieving your goals in life. Sometimes they change against your will, but finding new ones are the key. He doesn’t know yet where he will fit in, but it’s definitely in his thoughts. He talks all the time about wheelchair racquetball, making it his sport of choice.

As I left him heading to his poker game, I realized this young man’s life has changed more than I can ever imagine. He never once mentioned how sad he was or how hard it was to be in a new body without any feeling. He never talks about what he can’t do, but what he will do.

At 41, I have to ask myself how much of my days are consumed with what I didn’t get done or what I couldn’t do. How much has this teenager made me realize? As I think about my daily life, I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have it all stripped away. So when you pick up a racquet tomorrow night and head for the club, be happy to have the ability to exercise. Next time you get angry at yourself on the court, or want to stop because you are too tired, think of the opportunities you have been given and utilize them to better yourself. Others aren’t so lucky. I’ve learned a great deal from this humble, handsome young man, and I have much more appreciation for the little things in life. Thanks Jeremy!

Gazette: Resilient

RESILIENT AFTER THE FALL
Paralyzed teen keeps personal tragedy from destroying his life
By Anslee Willett | The Colorado Springs Gazette: 10/24/04 [original]

Most of Jeremy Lanosga’s body stopped working six months ago.

He remembers the fall — more than 50 feet at Garden of the Gods. He remembers looking up at the sky. Then his mind goes blank until the hospital.

He landed on a ledge, where he lay, his neck broken, for about four hours until a family friend found him. It took firefighters about two more hours to rescue him.

"I’m not sure if I’d rather remember it or not,” the 17-year-old said.

He is paralyzed from the neck down, with limited use of his wrist and shoulder.

PHOTOS: KRISTY ANN MANN, THE GAZETTE
ABOVE LEFT: A physical therapist shows Lanosga diagrams from a book about spinal cord injury. LEFT: Jeremy Lanosga, 17, is about to be helped back into his wheelchair Friday after one of the physical therapy sessions that he goes to three times a week at the Memorial Outpatient Adult Rehabilitation center. Lanosga was left a quadriplegic in May when he fell more than 50 feet at Garden of the Gods after climbing rocks to take photos.

“I’ve started seeing people in wheelchairs on the side of the road that I didn’t notice before,” he said.

Before the May 10 fall, he played racquetball several times a week. He was planning a bicycle trip from Canada to South America.

“It drives me crazy just lying around,” Jeremy said. “I could scream.”

Still, most of his thoughts remain upbeat. Others notice.

“He captured the heart of every person he encountered here,” said Jaime Hoffman, his counselor at Craig Hospital in Denver, where Jeremy stayed for five months. “He’s just a hard worker, has a sparkle in his eye. He refused to let this disability stand in his way.”

Jeremy, who has three brothers and two sisters, doesn’t see the point of moping.

“If your mind is all you have left, you might as well use it,” he said. “There’s no reason not to be upbeat, I guess. It’s as good as it gets. I’m hoping for a medical miracle.”

His friend Bill Young is surprised by Jeremy’s buoyancy, almost certain he couldn’t do it if the situation were reversed.

“He hasn’t become a different person in the process,” Young said. “For the most part, he’s done a good job of maintaining who he is and not allowing this personal tragedy take over his life.”

Jeremy asked his therapist for a book that lists the things he should be able to do with his injury, and he’s striving to achieve them.

It’s an athlete’s approach, said his mother, Melodie Lanosga.

“He’s at a point now where he’s looking at the most he can do with his limitation. He has exceeded my expectation,” she said.

“Since he can’t compete at racquetball, he started running poker tournaments at Craig. Now he’s taking his friends’ money. He’s such a winner that he has to win at something.”

He can’t hold the cards himself, but it doesn’t matter.

“He still controls his world, even from his wheelchair,” his mom said. “He’s still smiling and still in charge of his life.”

Jeremy’s smile helps her get by.

The night he fell, he had pedaled his bike to Garden of the Gods for sunset photos. He scaled Gray Rocks without climbing gear to get the shots, a climb he had made days earlier.

“I missed the sunset by about 10 minutes,” he said.

He lost his footing on the way down and fell. His next memory was about 36 hours later, when hospital workers put on a halo for his broken neck.

Jeremy’s single mom didn’t have medical insurance. People have helped his family with needs such as his wheelchair-accessible van and outfitting their home for his electric wheelchair.

Racquetball player Woody Clouse is donating 50 cents for every point he wins in tournaments to help Jeremy’s family. He’s asking all racquetball players to do the same.

Aaron Weissenfluh, a former touring racquetball player, has joined the effort by matching every $1 raised.

Jeremy met Clouse and Weissenfluh through racquetball.

“He’s one of the most mature kids,” Weissenfluh said. “He’s got so much heart.”

Jeremy’s racquetball coach, Eddie Meredith, is heading a project by the Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs to outfit the Lanosga home for his wheelchair and make a bathroom handicapped-accessible.

Through donations and volunteers, about $75,000 worth of work will be done to the home on Chambers Drive in western Colorado Springs. Jeremy and his family are staying in temporary housing until the monthlong project, set to begin Nov. 1, is done.

Meredith, a general contractor, said when he tells people Jeremy’s story, it’s easy to get assistance.

Jeremy and his family are grateful for the help. “I think good things are coming,” his mom said, “because of the good that Jeremy put out in the world.”

HOW TO HELP

• Racquetball effort: Visit www.andrushcourt.com or call toll-free at 1-866-510-5928.
• Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs project: Call Renee Zentz at 592-1800, Ext. 15. Donations and volunteers are needed for the $75,000 project.
• Donations may be mailed to Bennie Lanosga, 225 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd. No. 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 or call 527-7785.

Summer/Fall Update

Gazette: Accident

Dash for Picture ends in Paralysis
By Anslee Willett
Colorado Springs Gazette, 05/12/04

The 17-year-old amateur photographer had peddled his bike to Garden of the Gods to take a picture of Monday's sunset.

He scaled Gray Rocks without climbing gear - a violation of park rules - to get the shot he wanted, a climb he'd made days earlier.

On his way down about 8 p.m., he lost his footing and fell between 50 and 75 feet, landing on the ledge.

The fall wasn't that bad, he told his family later.

"He doesn't remember the landing. He remembers bouncing," said his mother, Melodie Lanosga.

She and family friends found him about 11:55 p.m.

He lay there paralyzed with a broken neck for about two more hours, the time it took firefighters to get to him.

"He was pretty much with us until they put the brace around his neck," his mom said. "He kind of went away. It was scary. They had to tell him to breathe."

The Flight for Life helicopter took him to Penrose Hospital, where he was in serious condition Friday.

"He is paralyzed from the chest down," she said. "Paralyzed, thats such an ugly word, a hard work to hear."

Doctors have told Jeremy's mother it's too soon to tell whether he'll be able to walk again.

Jeremy, who is home-schooled, has five brothers and sisters, ages 5 to 21.

"They're having a hard time," his mom said. "They just want to live at the hospital."

Jeremy is an avid racquetball player and loves to mountain bike.

"He started learning Portuguese," his mom said. "He and his friend Bill (Young) are planning to bicycle through Central and South America. He really is a responsible kid."

That's why she was worried when he didn't return home.

The single mom, who was home with her three youngest children, asked Bill Young to look for Jeremy.

About 10:30 p.m., she called 911. She said she was told she could file a missing persons report.

She called Jeremy's climbing buddy, Mark Warwick, the family's friend and doctor, to ask if he knew where Jeremy might be in the park. He did.

Melodie Lanosga and Warwick climbed to reach him.

"He was barely conscious," Warwick said.

Young watched from the ground.

"The first thing I heard was that he was breathing and coherent and that he might have a broken leg," he said. "My hope was that that's all there was to it."

Young has talked with him a lot since the fall. Jeremy has told some jokes and talked about continuing his education.

He's asked Young to bring in books and Portuguese CDs.

"He wants me to read to him," Young said. "He is pretty mature for his age, and most of his friends are twice his age or older."

Both are members of Peak Digital Imaging Society.

"He's still in a novice stage, but he does produce some pretty striking images," Young said. "He's won some awards in our group."

Jeremy, who took two rolls of film that night, has asked his mom to find the roll he dropped.

"He is upset he was 10 minutes too late getting to the top of the rock for the sunset," she said.