Ryan Adler Accident 2005

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06113/683765-54.stm

Leaping into competition again: Injured pole vaulter Ryan Adler rejoins Knoch High team in discus, javelin events

Sunday, April 23, 2006

By Kathleen Ganster


A few weeks ago, Ryan Adler was looking forward to his March 21 birthday. His mother, Lisa Ryan, was looking forward to a milestone date of a different kind.

"He said, 'I can't wait to turn 16.' I said to him, 'I can't wait until April 18,' " she said.

Mrs. Adler was referring to the first anniversary of Ryan's pole vaulting accident, an accident that could have cost him his life.

On April 18 last year, Ryan was competing as a freshman with the Knoch High School track team in the pole vault during a meet at North Allegheny High School. When he went up to attempt a 9-foot vault, he faltered and came back down, landing on his head, neck and shoulders. Ryan lost consciousness and was rushed to Children's Hospital. For three weeks, he was in a coma.

"We didn't know if he was going to make it," Mrs. Adler said from her Penn home. To make matters worse, Ryan's father and older brother, Chris, were in Thailand on a mission trip and it took them more than 48 hours to get back to the United States.

On the anniversary Tuesday, two teams gathered at the Knoch High School field with Ryan: his family -- all sporting the "Go Ryan Go" shirts that have become their trademark -- and his high school teammates. Now, however, they were watching him compete in the discus and javelin events instead of the pole vault.

"I know he wants to jump again," Mrs. Adler said. "But we just can't let him. He looks so longingly at the pole vaulting event. Last week, he said, 'Hey Mom, I held my pole.' "

The past 12 months were filled with tense moments, some challenges, some ups and downs, but overall, triumph, according to Mrs. Adler. "When I look back at this year, I'm overwhelmed at God's goodness. That day started like any other day and it ended in a place that changed our lives forever," she said.

"I can't put it into words. I am just so thankful. Just so very, very thankful," his father said at the meet.

After Ryan came out of his coma, he had to undergo rehabilitation at the Children's Institute in Squirrel Hill, where he had physical, speech and occupational therapy. He did not return to the classroom that year.

"Fortunately, he had straight A's and was doing well, so they just let him stand where he was at that time," Mrs. Adler said. Ryan completed physical therapy just before the start of the school year in August and rejoined his classmates as a sophomore.

The residual effects of his accident are "none that anyone would notice," his mother said. "I see small things every now and then. A small shake, something like that."

Ryan receives copies of his teachers' lecture notes because his note-taking skills still lag behind where he was a year ago. He's still getting straight A's, however.

Before the track meet, Mrs. Adler couldn't talk about the anniversary without getting tears in her eyes.

She kept marking the steps leading up to the one-year milestone. "I said to my husband, 'Danny, this is when you left for Thailand.' Or, 'This is when we did that.' It is a big day for us," she said.

Ryan knows he is lucky to be participating in the meet.

"I would much rather be pole vaulting, but it doesn't matter. I know it would be so selfish to do it. If anything happened to me again, it wouldn't be me but everyone at home who would suffer," he said.

He scored a personal best in the javelin although he didn't crack the top three in the discus throw.

At the end of the meet, Mrs. Adler said, "It's just been one of those days in your life. I read over Ryan's journal today and thought about the year. I just really stopped and gave thanks."

As for Ryan, he looks forward to participating in more sports. "I am hoping to be able to wrestle in the fall," he said. "But right now, I am just glad I am here."