BCS: One Buckeye Exemplifies Courage – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A few feet away from where the Ohio State Buckeyes are going through their paces in preparation for Monday night’s national championship game against LSU, Tyson Gentry sits in his wheelchair in the sun, pondering his future and how it was forever changed by one simple slip.
Gentry was a skinny but athletic walk-on punter and wide receiver in the spring of 2006 when he went out on a pass play during practice, slipped as the ball arrived, and landed awkwardly.
He suffered a broken vertebra in his neck and a damaged spinal cord, and has been unable to walk since.
“I’m doing well. I’m trying to stay warm,” he said with a grin as he attempted to burrow deeper into a light jacket while watching Ohio State’s practice on Friday at Tulane University. “The wind kind of gets to me and just tightens my body up.”
Gentry remains a part of the Buckeyes. He attends many team functions, goes to practice every day, and is still listed on Ohio State’s roster for the championship game.
“I’m definitely optimistic. In fact things have gotten a lot better the longer out from the injury just because you get more into a routine, you get more comfortable with your body and your surroundings and more able to do things for yourself,” he said. “Just because I haven’t made a whole lot of progress toward walking doesn’t mean that the goal isn’t still there.”
Elsewhere, life is moving forward at a steady pace. He and his sister Ashley recently moved into a house in the Columbus area, which is much more spacious and easier for him to move around with his wheelchair.
He continues to attend classes and hopes to graduate in 2009. He has also begun giving motivational speeches, delivering one for a group trying to raise funds to make the second floor of a YMCA wheelchair-accessible.
“Overall, things are going really well,” he said. “I’ve lucked out being healthy and maintaining that. That’s the biggest focus, as long as my health stays up there, then it trickles down.”
