Leo
08-17-2003, 04:45 PM
KEVIN CLARK / Statesman Journal
Tim Fox, a former nationally ranked discus thrower, struggles to touch his nose with a 2-pound weight attached to his wrist during a recent rehabilitation session in Bend. He is recovering from a spinal injury suffered in Hawaii in 2001.
Accident left him badly hurt.
CURTIS ANDERSON, THE (EUGENE) REGISTER-GUARD
August 17, 2003
LA PINE - "Ne-ver ... give ... up."
The words come slowly, and with great effort, but there is no mistaking the message being sent by 46-year-old Tim Fox.
Even as he sits in an automated wheelchair in the living room of the house he and his brother built 10 years ago on a sunny piece of property just north of La Pine, you can see the competitive intensity in his eyes.
Fox suffered a near-fatal injury July 4, 2001, when he was blindsided by a wave on a beach in Hawaii. He fractured the C-5 vertebra in his lower neck and bruised his spinal cord when his head was slammed to the ocean floor.
The accident and ensuing complications left the longtime La Pine High School track and field coach with near-total paralysis. He lost his ability to speak and spent the next 4½ months fighting for his life.
"A couple of nights we weren't sure if he would make it," said his wife, Sara Fox. "His temperature spiked at 107 degrees; that should have killed him."
Small steps
A little more than two years have passed since the accident, and his struggles to regain his strength, speech and motor skills - and perhaps, the ability to walk again - continue on a daily basis at home and with weekly visits to St. Charles Rehabilitation Center in Bend.
Fox understands the enormity of the challenges ahead. A two-time Pac-10 discus champion at Oregon State, he knows progress can be painstakingly slow.
Still, that doesn't deter him from clearly enunciating his ultimate goal.
"I ... want ... to ... walk ... a-gain," he said.
Sara Fox nodded in agreement, and they both smiled as their 5-year-old son, Mack, bounded into the room and did his best Spiderman imitation. Mack was 3 at the time of the mishap, young enough to accept what has happened to his father.
As far as a definitive diagnosis for recovery, nobody can say for sure.
"The doctors really don't know," Sara Fox said. "We could all sit down and cry in a corner, but what good is that? We'd rather get up and fight and do what we can."
Thus, it was a big day when the 6-foot, 240-pound Fox was first able to use his thumb to push his glasses back into place, when he could finally win an arm wrestling match with his wife, and when he was able to grasp and lift a cold can of beer, find his lips with a straw and drink it down with a few hearty gulps.
"The key is to always remember," Sara Fox said. "To remember when he couldn't do something just a short time ago."
Small-town hero
To those who live in the Central Oregon city of Bend, there is no forgetting Tim Fox.
He was a star athlete for the Bend Lava Bears in the mid-1970s, earning all-state honors as a fullback in football and claiming back-to-back state titles in the discus in 1974 and '75. Fox still ranks No. 7 on the all-time Oregon prep discus list (191 feet, 7 inches), and he took first place in the event at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento.
In the fall of 1975, he accepted a track and field scholarship to Oregon State, where he quickly evolved into one of the best throwers in the history of the program.
As a junior in 1979, he won the Pac-10 discus title with a throw of 202 feet, 3 inches, his personal best which stands at No. 2 on the OSU all-time list. He was third at the NCAA Championships and finished the season ranked 10th nationally.
Fox defended his Pac-10 discus title as a senior, placed fifth at the NCAA meet and reached the finals of the 1980 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. He also finished his OSU career ranked No. 4 on the all-time hammer list.
When Fox was closing in on his undergraduate degree in physical education, he spent one term as a student-teacher and assistant track coach at Junction City High School under head track coach Dan Likens.
The following year, Fox returned to Central Oregon and soon began his 18-year career as a teacher and coach at La Pine High School.
A will to win
Today, Fox attacks his weekly therapy sessions with the same determination that marked his days as an elite athlete.
On a recent Friday, Fox began his one-hour session with occupational therapist Trudi Cruzen with a series of stretches, followed by several exercises designed to improve his manual dexterity.
Fox grimaced as he labored to lift his arms with 2-pound weights attached, and his focus was impeccable as he plucked bean bags, one by one, out of a plastic box. He also practiced writing, eating chocolate pudding and drinking from a cup with a straw.
"The amazing thing about Tim is that he's still strong," Cruzen said. "He always wants more; we can never do enough."
As the hour drew to a close, Cruzen brought out a Dynamometer - a device that measures grip strength - and Fox cranked as hard as he could, his eyes closed tight and his face distorted with the effort.
On that day, he set personal records with both hands - 2 pounds for the right and 5 pounds for the left. By comparison, Cruzen said, it takes about 20 pounds of strength for normal tasks such as opening the refrigerator door or pulling up your pants.
The next hour was devoted to strapping a harness around Fox and lifting him into an upright position with the help of a portable frame. He was suspended above a treadmill, and with the aid of two physical therapists, he practiced walking.
It wasn't that long ago that Fox was unable to stand up for more than 30 seconds before his blood pressure would drop and he would nearly pass out. Now, he has his own standing frame at home, and he gets up for more than an hour each day.
"You'll never hear him complain," Sara Fox said. "He always wants to work harder."
Sara Fox works hard to stay positive, bearing the burden of home therapy six days a week and trying not to get frustrated at the slow pace of recovery.
"To be honest, it's like having two kids," said Sara Fox, the daughter of former North Eugene basketball coach Barney Holland. "I think Tim's speech is the most difficult part. In the beginning, he was hard to understand, both the words and volume, but he's come a long way."
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=66326
Tim Fox, a former nationally ranked discus thrower, struggles to touch his nose with a 2-pound weight attached to his wrist during a recent rehabilitation session in Bend. He is recovering from a spinal injury suffered in Hawaii in 2001.
Accident left him badly hurt.
CURTIS ANDERSON, THE (EUGENE) REGISTER-GUARD
August 17, 2003
LA PINE - "Ne-ver ... give ... up."
The words come slowly, and with great effort, but there is no mistaking the message being sent by 46-year-old Tim Fox.
Even as he sits in an automated wheelchair in the living room of the house he and his brother built 10 years ago on a sunny piece of property just north of La Pine, you can see the competitive intensity in his eyes.
Fox suffered a near-fatal injury July 4, 2001, when he was blindsided by a wave on a beach in Hawaii. He fractured the C-5 vertebra in his lower neck and bruised his spinal cord when his head was slammed to the ocean floor.
The accident and ensuing complications left the longtime La Pine High School track and field coach with near-total paralysis. He lost his ability to speak and spent the next 4½ months fighting for his life.
"A couple of nights we weren't sure if he would make it," said his wife, Sara Fox. "His temperature spiked at 107 degrees; that should have killed him."
Small steps
A little more than two years have passed since the accident, and his struggles to regain his strength, speech and motor skills - and perhaps, the ability to walk again - continue on a daily basis at home and with weekly visits to St. Charles Rehabilitation Center in Bend.
Fox understands the enormity of the challenges ahead. A two-time Pac-10 discus champion at Oregon State, he knows progress can be painstakingly slow.
Still, that doesn't deter him from clearly enunciating his ultimate goal.
"I ... want ... to ... walk ... a-gain," he said.
Sara Fox nodded in agreement, and they both smiled as their 5-year-old son, Mack, bounded into the room and did his best Spiderman imitation. Mack was 3 at the time of the mishap, young enough to accept what has happened to his father.
As far as a definitive diagnosis for recovery, nobody can say for sure.
"The doctors really don't know," Sara Fox said. "We could all sit down and cry in a corner, but what good is that? We'd rather get up and fight and do what we can."
Thus, it was a big day when the 6-foot, 240-pound Fox was first able to use his thumb to push his glasses back into place, when he could finally win an arm wrestling match with his wife, and when he was able to grasp and lift a cold can of beer, find his lips with a straw and drink it down with a few hearty gulps.
"The key is to always remember," Sara Fox said. "To remember when he couldn't do something just a short time ago."
Small-town hero
To those who live in the Central Oregon city of Bend, there is no forgetting Tim Fox.
He was a star athlete for the Bend Lava Bears in the mid-1970s, earning all-state honors as a fullback in football and claiming back-to-back state titles in the discus in 1974 and '75. Fox still ranks No. 7 on the all-time Oregon prep discus list (191 feet, 7 inches), and he took first place in the event at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento.
In the fall of 1975, he accepted a track and field scholarship to Oregon State, where he quickly evolved into one of the best throwers in the history of the program.
As a junior in 1979, he won the Pac-10 discus title with a throw of 202 feet, 3 inches, his personal best which stands at No. 2 on the OSU all-time list. He was third at the NCAA Championships and finished the season ranked 10th nationally.
Fox defended his Pac-10 discus title as a senior, placed fifth at the NCAA meet and reached the finals of the 1980 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. He also finished his OSU career ranked No. 4 on the all-time hammer list.
When Fox was closing in on his undergraduate degree in physical education, he spent one term as a student-teacher and assistant track coach at Junction City High School under head track coach Dan Likens.
The following year, Fox returned to Central Oregon and soon began his 18-year career as a teacher and coach at La Pine High School.
A will to win
Today, Fox attacks his weekly therapy sessions with the same determination that marked his days as an elite athlete.
On a recent Friday, Fox began his one-hour session with occupational therapist Trudi Cruzen with a series of stretches, followed by several exercises designed to improve his manual dexterity.
Fox grimaced as he labored to lift his arms with 2-pound weights attached, and his focus was impeccable as he plucked bean bags, one by one, out of a plastic box. He also practiced writing, eating chocolate pudding and drinking from a cup with a straw.
"The amazing thing about Tim is that he's still strong," Cruzen said. "He always wants more; we can never do enough."
As the hour drew to a close, Cruzen brought out a Dynamometer - a device that measures grip strength - and Fox cranked as hard as he could, his eyes closed tight and his face distorted with the effort.
On that day, he set personal records with both hands - 2 pounds for the right and 5 pounds for the left. By comparison, Cruzen said, it takes about 20 pounds of strength for normal tasks such as opening the refrigerator door or pulling up your pants.
The next hour was devoted to strapping a harness around Fox and lifting him into an upright position with the help of a portable frame. He was suspended above a treadmill, and with the aid of two physical therapists, he practiced walking.
It wasn't that long ago that Fox was unable to stand up for more than 30 seconds before his blood pressure would drop and he would nearly pass out. Now, he has his own standing frame at home, and he gets up for more than an hour each day.
"You'll never hear him complain," Sara Fox said. "He always wants to work harder."
Sara Fox works hard to stay positive, bearing the burden of home therapy six days a week and trying not to get frustrated at the slow pace of recovery.
"To be honest, it's like having two kids," said Sara Fox, the daughter of former North Eugene basketball coach Barney Holland. "I think Tim's speech is the most difficult part. In the beginning, he was hard to understand, both the words and volume, but he's come a long way."
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=66326