Scott Brandon, a 36 year old paraplegic was introduced to
the Paralympic sport of Sled Hockey less than a month after his injury
Putting Adversity On Ice
Stephen Michael Kerr
It's been just over two years since 36-year-old Scott Brandon
became a paraplegic. After going through all the natural
adjustments and emotions such a life-changing experience brings,
he has neither the time nor inclination to wallow in self-pity.
He's too busy being a single father to two sons, working as
general manager of sales and marketing for an adaptive mobility
company, speaking at schools, and playing goaltender for the U.S.
sled hockey national team.
Brandon's life changed on September 10, 2002. He was on a ladder
trimming a tree when he fell 15 feet to the driveway, landing
flat on his back. The fall caused burst fractures in several
vertebrae, resulting in paraplegia. In the months of recovery and
rehabilitation that followed, Brandon realized giving up wasn't
an option; his two boys, 11-year-old Scott and six-year-old
Trevor, depended on him.
"If I couldn't find the strength within myself to recover, I knew
I must do it for them," Brandon recalls. "They needed their
father back to as close to normal as possible, and quick."
Following the accident, Brandon, a native of St. Louis, was sent
to DePaul Hospital, where neurosurgeon Dr. Danial Scodary
implanted titanium rods in his spine. He was then transferred to
St. Johns Mercy for more surgery and rehabilitation. After a
month of rehab, Brandon underwent five more months of out-patient
therapy three times a week. He has developed a close relationship
with his doctors, particularly Scodary.
"I owe a lot to him," Brandon says. "He has been a godsend to
myself and my family."
Less than a month after his injury, Brandon, who had played
roller blade hockey for years, was introduced to sled hockey by
his physical therapist, Kathy Griffith. Invented at a
rehabilitation center in Sweden in the 1960's, sled hockey became
a Paralympic sport in the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer.
Players sit in specially designed sleds placed on top of two
hockey skate blades, and the puck must be passed underneath the
sled.
After watching the U.S. Paralympic team play a game, Brandon met
several of the players, and was deeply moved by the experience.
"It was there that I created a new cast of heroes," he says.
"Here was a bunch of guys that have all overcome horrible
injuries of their own, and went on to play for their country and
win a gold medal in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Paralympics."
Once he was cleared by his doctors, Brandon played one season for
a team called the RIC Blackhawks before being invited to the U.S.
Team tryouts this past August in Colorado Springs. After five
days of tryouts, he made the team as a goaltender.
But other challenges lay ahead. When Brandon discovered that his
boys were being ridiculed at school because of his wheelchair, he
realized how important it was to show others that disabled people
could lead productive lives. He began speaking at grade schools,
demonstrating how he uses his wheelchair to go up and down
stairs, play sports, and do many of the things everyone else
does, with some modifications. He shows kids his Ford pickup
equipped with a special seat, wheelchair lift, and remote control
power topper.
Brandon is amazed at how much of a difference these brief
encounters can make in changing the way kids think about people
in wheelchairs. "Their first reaction is that they are a little
unsure, only because they just don't know we are typically normal
people who have suffered injuries," he explains. "They have no
idea we were just like their moms and dads before. But after an
hour of questions and answers, and discussing all of the great
things we can still do, they offer to push me, open doors, carry
my things to the truck, anything to be involved."
Kids aren't the only ones affected by Brandon's courage and
positive outlook. His friends and family have been with him every
step of the way the past two years, and are proud of what he has
overcome. His mother, Carol Halloran Ferguson, isn't at all
surprised at her son's resolve.
"It never occurred to him to set limits. He never has," she says.
"Scott still has that twinkle in his eye and the good nature and
easy grin. "He is still a loving father, son, brother and friend,
facing the same daily struggles and joys as every other person."
Brandon hopes to lead his sled hockey team to a gold medal at the
2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and to find that special
someone to share his struggles and triumphs with. His biggest
goal, though, is to be the kind of dad his sons can look up to
and be proud of. With all he has overcome to this point, there is
no doubt he has already gone a long way to accomplish that.
Stephen Michael Kerr
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