Commission OKs ’08 port budget
December 26, 2007
Sally Duet
December 28, 2007
Myron Wright intends to spend the rest of his Christmas break the way many college juniors might.
He’ll watch a lot of football, eat a lot of food and catch up on a lot of ZZZs.
But that’s where the similarities will end.
Wright, 21, a business management major at Nicholls State University, is confined to a wheelchair. The metal contraption has been Wright’s personal prison ever since a freak high school football accident left him paralyzed from the shoulders down more than five years ago.
Nonetheless, the Thibodaux resident has no plans of remaining a permanent inmate.
Wright is determined to walk again – a commitment fueled by a renewed feeling of hope upon learning about Project Walk, a renowned treatment program in Carlsbad, Calif. that specializes in rehabilitating patients with spinal cord injuries.
“I looked it up online and knew that it is the place I have to be,” Wright said. ”The staff (at Project Walk) doesn’t just want to improve the quality of your life in a wheelchair. They really want to get you out.”
Almost as much as Wright.
He started the Myron Wright Foundation to raise funds for Project Walk, which runs an exorbitant tab of $1,800 per week and $43,000 for six months.
He has already collected more than $3,500 through a walkathon held at Peltier Park last month.
Wright is hoping to generate additional contributions through a charity banquet (scheduled for Jan. 19) and the distribution of a 10-minute DVD documentary that chronicles his recovery efforts.
“It’s been a big transition – going from being a person who is doing everything to a person that can’t do anything for himself,” Wright explained. “As an athlete, I was used to being a person that was always on the go, and now I can’t do any of that. If it wasn’t for my family and the community, it would be a lot tougher.”
Beverly Wright, Myron’s mother, had enrolled her son in other rehabilitation programs in the past but believes Project Walk might be the answer to their prayers.
“He (Myron) is a strong person,” she said. “You have to have willpower and faith to go out to California and try another rehab program.”
Taking a hit
Thibodaux High School was lining up for a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown against H.L. Bourgeois in the early stages of the third quarter on the night of Nov. 8, 2002.
The ball was snapped, then fumbled. Amidst the pandemonium, Wright got into position to prevent an opposing defender from pouncing on the loose pigskin, but was pushed from behind into an oncoming player.
Wright went down.
“It was a weird feeling,” he described. “I felt like I was floating with my arms and legs up in the air.”
Soon after, confusion gave way to fear.
Something was wrong.
“They (trainers) were trying to test me and I started to get nervous because I couldn’t move at all,” he said.
Wright was rushed to the hospital, where he was eventually diagnosed as having fractured vertebrae.
“I underwent surgery and doctors replaced a bone with another,” Wright said. “I eventually started to feel shoulder movement a few weeks later.”
Progress ended there, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been been reason for optimism.
“Ever since the accident, Myron can feel everything,” explained Mark Kern, the adapted physical education teacher who worked with Wright at Thibodaux High School. “He can feel the lightest touch on his foot. To me, that would indicate that there are still connections, but for some reason, they’re just not functioning.”
Wright also draws inspiration from success stories – the most recent being Kevin Everett. The Buffalo Bills tight end was paralyzed from the neck down after absorbing a vicious hit in his team’s 2007 season opener against Denver, but took his first steps with the assistance of a walker only weeks later.
“I read that Everett was going to walk again and that gives me hope,” Wright said. “You just never know. Anything is possible.”
Refusing to quit
Wright’s dream of walking onto the stage of his high school auditorium to accept his diploma never came to fruition.
So he recalibrated.
“Now I want to walk onstage to get my college degree,” Wright said, “and I still have two more years.”
The road will be arduous, but he knows that anything the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.
In the meantime, Wright will focus his energy on drumming up support.
The plan is to enroll at Project Walk by the end of January, so the next few weeks will be especially critical.
But Wright is no stranger to adversity.
“I want to have everything in play before I go,” he said. “You got to stay strong. I played football and basketball in high school, and use all of the lessons I was taught then today. You have to work for what you want and you never take a day off.”
Kern believes Wright’s unwavering work ethic and mental fortitude will help him achieve his goal.
“A lot of kids in Myron’s situation would have been like ‘Why me?’” he said. “Myron was never like that. When I worked with Myron, he was never in a down mood.
“He was always up-tempo. And he’s mentally tough. With the faith he has in himself and God, I think he will do a lot more things than some people might think he will.”
When asked about the first thing he would do if he ever regained the ability to walk, Wright didn’t hesitate in his response.
“I have some nieces and nephews that I haven’t been able to hold yet,” he said. “But the first thing I will do is get down on my knees and pray.”
For information about making donations to The Myron Wright Foundation, call (985) 447-8784 or visit www.myspace.com/myron_ wright.
Myron Wright hopes to raise enough money to enroll at Project Walk, a treatment facility in Carlsbad, Calif. that specializes in rehabilitating people with spinal cord injuries. (Photo contributed by Beverly Wright)
