- Location
- Kansas City
Posted on Tue, Feb. 11, 2003
Lafayette quarterback deals with recent paralysis
By DEREK SAMSON
The Kansas City Star
``I want to walk again. If that takes a couple of years, it takes a couple of years,'' says Tyler Rohr, a three-sport athlete at St. Joseph Lafayette who was paralyzed after falling from a tree.
The 40-foot weeping willow has been Tyler Rohr's companion since he can remember, a living jungle gym of sorts.
On Feb. 1, the tree became a permanent part of his life.
Rohr, a three-sport athlete at St. Joseph Lafayette High School, built forts in that tree, practiced bow hunting from it, seemingly climbed every limb. But 10 days ago, Rohr fell 15 feet out of that weeping willow, flat on his back.
He is paralyzed from his belly button down, suffering major damage to the T9 vertebrae in his lower back. Rohr may never walk again.
"They talk medically, but medically can't measure the heart and determination that Tyler has," said Rohr's father, Doug. "Medically, they don't give him as much of a chance (to walk) as we give him. Since it wasn't severed, the hope is there. Things do happen. That's what we're going on."
Rohr, Lafayette's starting quarterback, couldn't wait for summer football drills. Sure, he played basketball and golf, too. But football was his sport. He rushed for around 600 yards on a 4-5 team and thought constantly about his senior season.
He won the starting job because of his legs. Rohr could run out of trouble. Coaches called rollouts and gave Rohr the green light to tuck it and run, or pass it. He usually ran. So much that his coaches wanted Rohr to work on his arm, become more of a passer, before next fall.
Now, his determination shifts toward regaining the use of his legs.
"I want to set goals, but I really don't know my capability," Rohr said. "I don't want to set them too far. I want to walk again. If that takes a couple of years, it takes a couple of years."
There are so many ifs in this story. If only Rohr had slept in, not been so comfortable in that tree or just landed differently.
If only it had been a typically freezing February day.
But the weekend of Feb. 1 was unseasonably warm. Tyler and his father weren't about to spend a 60-degree day sitting inside. Tyler, a junior, wanted to golf. Instead, he helped his father trim trees, a chore performed countless times.
He spent the previous night at a friend's house but woke early and said he needed to get home to "cut some trees." He was home by 8:30 a.m., engulfed breakfast and went out back with his father around 9:40. Doug wanted to be finished by noon, so they could enjoy the rest of this perfect day.
The Rohrs have only two trees, both weeping willows, in their back yard. The smaller one, maybe 18 feet tall, was damaged by last year's ice storm. The larger one, well, nothing brings that bad boy down.
Rohr climbed the bigger tree with an electric trimmer. He scaled past the boards and nails left from his fort-building days. He stopped about 15 feet from the ground, positioned himself on a solid branch and began cutting a limb in front of him.
He listened to the crack and then saw the wood fall toward the ground.
Somehow, Rohr followed.
Rohr watched the tree move farther away as he soared toward the ground. He recalls waiting for impact, and thinking, "This is gonna knock the wind out of me."
Doug stood at the base of the tree, witnessing a scene he still sees when he closes his eyes.
"It happened so quick, I didn't think of anything," Doug said. "I just ran over there. He was conscious. Really, I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't like he hit anything on the way down. Then he told me he couldn't feel his legs."
Rohr landed square on his back, with his arms and legs straight in the air. He never lost his wind. His upper body didn't hurt. Nothing did. But his lower body went numb, other than a tingling sensation in his feet.
Even when his legs dropped to the ground, Rohr felt as if they were stretched in the air. He kept trying to push them down.
His mother, Nancy, rushed outside and then went back in to call 911.
"I've seen him on the ground so many times, playing football, riding his bike," she said. "I was hoping he would just pop back up like he usually does."
Rohr was rushed to Heartland East Medical Center in St. Joseph before being transferred to the KU Medical Center later that afternoon.
"In football (injuries), people can't feel their legs for a little bit," said Rohr, 17. "But it always comes back. I was hoping that would happen. When they put me in the ambulance, I was thinking, `I'll be all right.' "
He underwent surgery the following day to insert titanium rods into his back, as more than 100 people waited at the hospital.
In fact, the KU Medical Center became Lafayette High School South all last week. Teachers and administrators call Rohr a popular kid, natural leader, solid student. They say he is fun-loving and smart. He never gets trouble, one coach said.
His hospital room looked like a flower shop. Platte County coach Chip Sherman and two of his players visited Rohr, delivering a football signed by the team. St. Joseph Central coaches and players sent cards. St. Joseph Bishop LeBlond gave him a plant.
Rohr's No. 8 football jersey, signed by his teammates, dangled from the television in the room. His basketball teammates are taking turns wearing his jersey in games.
There have been calls from strangers, fund-raisers, chili suppers and announcements at games to rally support. Nearly every St. Joseph church prayed for Rohr.
"He's a very inspirational kid," Lafayette football coach Brian Banker said. "After surgery, he asked, `What's next? Let's go.' He's got a lot of fight in him."
Last week, Rohr worked on sitting up in bed, moving himself with one hand and getting into a wheelchair.
On Sunday, just eight days after the fall, Rohr left Kansas City for a rehabilitation center in St. Louis. He is not sure what's ahead. He knows it involves pain and frustration.
"It's definitely weird," Rohr said. "In movies you see people try to sit up and they're real shaky, they move real slow. You figure if that ever happened to you, you'd be really good at grabbing stuff. But it's so hard to keep your balance without your legs."
Rohr could be in St. Louis for two months before he finally returns home.
Doug and Nancy went home briefly three days after the accident. Neighbors had cut and piled the branches, and put away the trimmers. Doug walked past the weeping willow on his way to the dog pen. He refused to look at the tree.
Nancy couldn't even go into the back yard.
Tyler, though, holds no grudge toward his big, old buddy. Sees no reason to blame the tree. He likes telling a story about falling out of the smaller tree when he was 7 years old. That, too, was probably a 15-foot tumble. Didn't hurt much, he says with a grin. That small tree, it was nothing.
Then his smile disappears.
"The big one," he said, "it got me."
Lafayette quarterback deals with recent paralysis
By DEREK SAMSON
The Kansas City Star
``I want to walk again. If that takes a couple of years, it takes a couple of years,'' says Tyler Rohr, a three-sport athlete at St. Joseph Lafayette who was paralyzed after falling from a tree.
The 40-foot weeping willow has been Tyler Rohr's companion since he can remember, a living jungle gym of sorts.
On Feb. 1, the tree became a permanent part of his life.
Rohr, a three-sport athlete at St. Joseph Lafayette High School, built forts in that tree, practiced bow hunting from it, seemingly climbed every limb. But 10 days ago, Rohr fell 15 feet out of that weeping willow, flat on his back.
He is paralyzed from his belly button down, suffering major damage to the T9 vertebrae in his lower back. Rohr may never walk again.
"They talk medically, but medically can't measure the heart and determination that Tyler has," said Rohr's father, Doug. "Medically, they don't give him as much of a chance (to walk) as we give him. Since it wasn't severed, the hope is there. Things do happen. That's what we're going on."
Rohr, Lafayette's starting quarterback, couldn't wait for summer football drills. Sure, he played basketball and golf, too. But football was his sport. He rushed for around 600 yards on a 4-5 team and thought constantly about his senior season.
He won the starting job because of his legs. Rohr could run out of trouble. Coaches called rollouts and gave Rohr the green light to tuck it and run, or pass it. He usually ran. So much that his coaches wanted Rohr to work on his arm, become more of a passer, before next fall.
Now, his determination shifts toward regaining the use of his legs.
"I want to set goals, but I really don't know my capability," Rohr said. "I don't want to set them too far. I want to walk again. If that takes a couple of years, it takes a couple of years."
There are so many ifs in this story. If only Rohr had slept in, not been so comfortable in that tree or just landed differently.
If only it had been a typically freezing February day.
But the weekend of Feb. 1 was unseasonably warm. Tyler and his father weren't about to spend a 60-degree day sitting inside. Tyler, a junior, wanted to golf. Instead, he helped his father trim trees, a chore performed countless times.
He spent the previous night at a friend's house but woke early and said he needed to get home to "cut some trees." He was home by 8:30 a.m., engulfed breakfast and went out back with his father around 9:40. Doug wanted to be finished by noon, so they could enjoy the rest of this perfect day.
The Rohrs have only two trees, both weeping willows, in their back yard. The smaller one, maybe 18 feet tall, was damaged by last year's ice storm. The larger one, well, nothing brings that bad boy down.
Rohr climbed the bigger tree with an electric trimmer. He scaled past the boards and nails left from his fort-building days. He stopped about 15 feet from the ground, positioned himself on a solid branch and began cutting a limb in front of him.
He listened to the crack and then saw the wood fall toward the ground.
Somehow, Rohr followed.
Rohr watched the tree move farther away as he soared toward the ground. He recalls waiting for impact, and thinking, "This is gonna knock the wind out of me."
Doug stood at the base of the tree, witnessing a scene he still sees when he closes his eyes.
"It happened so quick, I didn't think of anything," Doug said. "I just ran over there. He was conscious. Really, I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't like he hit anything on the way down. Then he told me he couldn't feel his legs."
Rohr landed square on his back, with his arms and legs straight in the air. He never lost his wind. His upper body didn't hurt. Nothing did. But his lower body went numb, other than a tingling sensation in his feet.
Even when his legs dropped to the ground, Rohr felt as if they were stretched in the air. He kept trying to push them down.
His mother, Nancy, rushed outside and then went back in to call 911.
"I've seen him on the ground so many times, playing football, riding his bike," she said. "I was hoping he would just pop back up like he usually does."
Rohr was rushed to Heartland East Medical Center in St. Joseph before being transferred to the KU Medical Center later that afternoon.
"In football (injuries), people can't feel their legs for a little bit," said Rohr, 17. "But it always comes back. I was hoping that would happen. When they put me in the ambulance, I was thinking, `I'll be all right.' "
He underwent surgery the following day to insert titanium rods into his back, as more than 100 people waited at the hospital.
In fact, the KU Medical Center became Lafayette High School South all last week. Teachers and administrators call Rohr a popular kid, natural leader, solid student. They say he is fun-loving and smart. He never gets trouble, one coach said.
His hospital room looked like a flower shop. Platte County coach Chip Sherman and two of his players visited Rohr, delivering a football signed by the team. St. Joseph Central coaches and players sent cards. St. Joseph Bishop LeBlond gave him a plant.
Rohr's No. 8 football jersey, signed by his teammates, dangled from the television in the room. His basketball teammates are taking turns wearing his jersey in games.
There have been calls from strangers, fund-raisers, chili suppers and announcements at games to rally support. Nearly every St. Joseph church prayed for Rohr.
"He's a very inspirational kid," Lafayette football coach Brian Banker said. "After surgery, he asked, `What's next? Let's go.' He's got a lot of fight in him."
Last week, Rohr worked on sitting up in bed, moving himself with one hand and getting into a wheelchair.
On Sunday, just eight days after the fall, Rohr left Kansas City for a rehabilitation center in St. Louis. He is not sure what's ahead. He knows it involves pain and frustration.
"It's definitely weird," Rohr said. "In movies you see people try to sit up and they're real shaky, they move real slow. You figure if that ever happened to you, you'd be really good at grabbing stuff. But it's so hard to keep your balance without your legs."
Rohr could be in St. Louis for two months before he finally returns home.
Doug and Nancy went home briefly three days after the accident. Neighbors had cut and piled the branches, and put away the trimmers. Doug walked past the weeping willow on his way to the dog pen. He refused to look at the tree.
Nancy couldn't even go into the back yard.
Tyler, though, holds no grudge toward his big, old buddy. Sees no reason to blame the tree. He likes telling a story about falling out of the smaller tree when he was 7 years old. That, too, was probably a 15-foot tumble. Didn't hurt much, he says with a grin. That small tree, it was nothing.
Then his smile disappears.
"The big one," he said, "it got me."
