Birde
08-16-2001, 09:00 AM
The carnage was such that John Kelm drove by the accident scene and didn't recognize the crumpled automobile that held his family prisoner beneath the carriage of the semi-truck.
Eight years have passed since that overcast afternoon in June 1993 on Highway 32 in Port Washington. Driver Katherine Kelm needed facial reconstruction surgery, lost both kneecaps and almost lost her leg. She spent 96 days in the hospital and another year in a wheelchair, but all things considered, she's doing well. Her son Peter Verfuerth, now 23, suffered facial lacerations but also is doing well.
Daughter Kaitlyn Verfuerth, a little girl sitting in the back seat that day, suffered the worst injuries. She will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
"All I remember is waking up in the hospital and not being able to move my legs," said Kaitlyn, now 15.
For some, the prospect of living the rest of a still-blossoming life in a wheelchair would be a prepunched excuse for self-pity.
"I worried," her mother said. "Would Kaitlyn ever be able to go to her prom? Would she ever have a date?"
Today, those worries seem misplaced to all who know the irrepressible sophomore, whose busy social life includes a steady boyfriend.
"Our phone never stops ringing," Katherine said.
And, oh yes, Kaitlyn Verfuerth is a world-class athlete.
In August, she will represent the United States in the World Team Cup Wheelchair Tennis tournament.
Kaitlyn doesn't compete only against other paraplegic athletes. She plays for the Port Washington girls tennis team and last fall compiled a 4-16 record at No. 4 singles.
The only advantage accorded Verfuerth when playing varsity tennis: She can play a ball that has bounced twice, according to rules of wheelchair tennis, while her non-disabled opponents can't let it bounce more than once.
But more on that later. It is in the wheelchair arena where Verfuerth is making her mark.
"Kaitlyn is the shining star of women's wheelchair tennis in this country," said Jackie Mueller Egelhoff, head pro at the River Tennis Club in Milwaukee and Verfuerth's personal coach.
At a recent national wheelchair tournament in St. Louis, Verfuerth won her second consecutive women's division title and also won the junior division.
"Kaitlyn is an extraordinary athlete," Mueller Egelhoff said. "There is no telling what she could be as an able-bodied athlete, but certainly it is fun to see what she has accomplished in this program."
She stays in shape by trekking eight to 15 miles over the streets of Port Washington almost every day the weather permits.
Verfuerth also plays wheelchair basketball with the Madison-based Mad City Bombers and, as a freshman, earned a letter, throwing the discus for the Port Washington track team.
"Tennis is my main thing, but the road work helps out a lot," she said. "Someday I'd like to do a marathon, maybe the Lakefront Marathon" in Milwaukee.
Tennis is a challenging proposition for any wheelchair athlete, even with the best conditioning. Verfuerth competes in a chair made especially for tennis, but coordinating her ground strokes with the demands of quickly moving from one side of the court to the other is an armful.
"The hardest part is moving the chair and hitting the ball at the same time," Verfuerth said. "It's tough getting back and forth."
Energy, speed and mobility gained from basketball gave Kaitlyn great potential, Mueller Egelhoff said. "What we've worked with her on is her tennis strokes."
Although Verfuerth said she has no specific goals, the wheelchair tennis circuit, which does offer prize money, appears to be in her future. In the short term, she is likely to land a tennis scholarship from one of the growing number of universities that field teams in wheelchair tennis, such as Arizona, California and Georgia.
When she first tried to compete against non-disabled opponents, officials at the organization that governs state high school athletics, were wary, thinking she might have an unfair advantage if she was allowed to play the ball on the second bounce. But they eventually agreed to abide by U.S. Tennis Association rules for wheelchair players.
Before each match, Port Washington High School tennis coach Jerry Heck confers with the opposing coach to explain the two-bounce rule. By now, most tennis coaches in the North Shore Conference are aware of Verfuerth's circumstances.
"I thought there might be some people who thought it would be unfair, but nobody has complained to me," Heck said.
"It's a moving experience to watch her compete," said Mueller Egelhoff, who has coached against her pupil in high school matches as Homestead High School's tennis coach. "I can't imagine anyone complaining."
Like all wheelchair players, Verfuerth is basically a baseline player by necessity. Her non-disabled opponents have figured out that the best way to beat her is to keep her constantly moving back and forth with short strokes.
"Obviously, she can't move around the court as well as the able-bodied girls, but she hits the ball as well as anybody on the team," Heck said.
Verfuerth's willingness to do everything her non-disabled teammates are required to do has helped make her popular with teammates. There were 30 girls on the Port Washington team last fall - the most Heck has had on the squad in his seven years at the helm. He thinks it has a lot to do with the buzz created by Verfuerth's presence.
"Let's face it," he said. "She's inspirational."
Kaitlyn said she found her own source of inspiration as a little girl lying in the hospital with her mother.
"From the beginning, our attitude has been 'let's not look back - let's look forward,' " Katherine Kelm said. "We've got so many barriers to cross, and we've taken them one at a time."
Tennis, Kaitlyn said, has been her therapy. "I almost never think about (the accident) anymore," she said. "It was tougher before, but I haven't got time to think about it now. I've got too much to do."
Eight years have passed since that overcast afternoon in June 1993 on Highway 32 in Port Washington. Driver Katherine Kelm needed facial reconstruction surgery, lost both kneecaps and almost lost her leg. She spent 96 days in the hospital and another year in a wheelchair, but all things considered, she's doing well. Her son Peter Verfuerth, now 23, suffered facial lacerations but also is doing well.
Daughter Kaitlyn Verfuerth, a little girl sitting in the back seat that day, suffered the worst injuries. She will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
"All I remember is waking up in the hospital and not being able to move my legs," said Kaitlyn, now 15.
For some, the prospect of living the rest of a still-blossoming life in a wheelchair would be a prepunched excuse for self-pity.
"I worried," her mother said. "Would Kaitlyn ever be able to go to her prom? Would she ever have a date?"
Today, those worries seem misplaced to all who know the irrepressible sophomore, whose busy social life includes a steady boyfriend.
"Our phone never stops ringing," Katherine said.
And, oh yes, Kaitlyn Verfuerth is a world-class athlete.
In August, she will represent the United States in the World Team Cup Wheelchair Tennis tournament.
Kaitlyn doesn't compete only against other paraplegic athletes. She plays for the Port Washington girls tennis team and last fall compiled a 4-16 record at No. 4 singles.
The only advantage accorded Verfuerth when playing varsity tennis: She can play a ball that has bounced twice, according to rules of wheelchair tennis, while her non-disabled opponents can't let it bounce more than once.
But more on that later. It is in the wheelchair arena where Verfuerth is making her mark.
"Kaitlyn is the shining star of women's wheelchair tennis in this country," said Jackie Mueller Egelhoff, head pro at the River Tennis Club in Milwaukee and Verfuerth's personal coach.
At a recent national wheelchair tournament in St. Louis, Verfuerth won her second consecutive women's division title and also won the junior division.
"Kaitlyn is an extraordinary athlete," Mueller Egelhoff said. "There is no telling what she could be as an able-bodied athlete, but certainly it is fun to see what she has accomplished in this program."
She stays in shape by trekking eight to 15 miles over the streets of Port Washington almost every day the weather permits.
Verfuerth also plays wheelchair basketball with the Madison-based Mad City Bombers and, as a freshman, earned a letter, throwing the discus for the Port Washington track team.
"Tennis is my main thing, but the road work helps out a lot," she said. "Someday I'd like to do a marathon, maybe the Lakefront Marathon" in Milwaukee.
Tennis is a challenging proposition for any wheelchair athlete, even with the best conditioning. Verfuerth competes in a chair made especially for tennis, but coordinating her ground strokes with the demands of quickly moving from one side of the court to the other is an armful.
"The hardest part is moving the chair and hitting the ball at the same time," Verfuerth said. "It's tough getting back and forth."
Energy, speed and mobility gained from basketball gave Kaitlyn great potential, Mueller Egelhoff said. "What we've worked with her on is her tennis strokes."
Although Verfuerth said she has no specific goals, the wheelchair tennis circuit, which does offer prize money, appears to be in her future. In the short term, she is likely to land a tennis scholarship from one of the growing number of universities that field teams in wheelchair tennis, such as Arizona, California and Georgia.
When she first tried to compete against non-disabled opponents, officials at the organization that governs state high school athletics, were wary, thinking she might have an unfair advantage if she was allowed to play the ball on the second bounce. But they eventually agreed to abide by U.S. Tennis Association rules for wheelchair players.
Before each match, Port Washington High School tennis coach Jerry Heck confers with the opposing coach to explain the two-bounce rule. By now, most tennis coaches in the North Shore Conference are aware of Verfuerth's circumstances.
"I thought there might be some people who thought it would be unfair, but nobody has complained to me," Heck said.
"It's a moving experience to watch her compete," said Mueller Egelhoff, who has coached against her pupil in high school matches as Homestead High School's tennis coach. "I can't imagine anyone complaining."
Like all wheelchair players, Verfuerth is basically a baseline player by necessity. Her non-disabled opponents have figured out that the best way to beat her is to keep her constantly moving back and forth with short strokes.
"Obviously, she can't move around the court as well as the able-bodied girls, but she hits the ball as well as anybody on the team," Heck said.
Verfuerth's willingness to do everything her non-disabled teammates are required to do has helped make her popular with teammates. There were 30 girls on the Port Washington team last fall - the most Heck has had on the squad in his seven years at the helm. He thinks it has a lot to do with the buzz created by Verfuerth's presence.
"Let's face it," he said. "She's inspirational."
Kaitlyn said she found her own source of inspiration as a little girl lying in the hospital with her mother.
"From the beginning, our attitude has been 'let's not look back - let's look forward,' " Katherine Kelm said. "We've got so many barriers to cross, and we've taken them one at a time."
Tennis, Kaitlyn said, has been her therapy. "I almost never think about (the accident) anymore," she said. "It was tougher before, but I haven't got time to think about it now. I've got too much to do."