Resilient after the fall
Paralyzed teen keeps personal tragedy from destroying his life
By ANSLEE WILLETT THE GAZETTE
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. “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 c Racquetball effort: Visit www.andrush court.com or call toll-free at 1-866-510-5928. c 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. c Donations may be mailed to Bennie Lanosga, 225 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd. No. 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 or call 527-7785.
TOP RIGHT: A physical therapist shows Lanosga diagrams from a book about spinal cord injury.
KRISTY ANN MANN, THE GAZETTE - ABOVE: 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.
KRISTY ANN MANN, THE GAZETTE - PAINFUL ROAD: Melodie Lanosga waits while her son, Jeremy, is helped back into a different position by his physical therapist, Carina Lowry, during a physical therapy session last week. “He still controls his world, even from his wheelchair,” Melodie Lanosga said. “He’s still smiling and still in charge of his life.”
