Since suffering an injury while doing a gymnastics flip on May 12, Drew Donnellan's life has been turned upside down. He is unable to walk. The Daily Star has followed Donnellan since the accident and will recount his struggles and triumphs in this three-part series with ongoing updates.
Part 1 - One instant dashes gymnast's dreams
Drew falls during gymnastics practice and injures his spine. He and his mom, Fran, are forced to confront their new reality. Read more »»
Part 2 - Learning a new routine
Drew's injury takes him to one of the nation's premier spinal-cord injury centers, where he learns to regain some independence and struggles to adjust to his new reality. Read more »»
Part 3 - 'The new me'
With Drew's dream of returning home getting closer, his friends and family in Tucson prepare for his arrival. Read more »»
Update - Drew comes home
More than three months after a gymnastics accident left him a quadriplegic, Salpointe student returns to Tucson — and a rousing welcome from his friends. Read more »»
Update - Life After paralysis
Drew Donnellan, who suffered a spinal cord injury in May during gymnastics practice, has yet to miss school or a therapy appointment. Read more »»
About the spinal column
•The spinal column is divided into four major regions: the cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back) and sacral (tailbone). There are eight spinal cord segments in the cervical region, 12 in the thoracic and five in the lumbar and sacral.
•Injuries to the cervical region are diagnosed as quadriplegia, or weakness of all four extremities. Injuries to the other three regions cause paraplegia, or weakness of the lower extremities.
About the injury
The brain, brain stem and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. The cord, a bundle of nerve fibers and cells, connects the brain with muscle, skin and internal organs like a telegraph line. It is protected by the vertebrae and sits in the spinal column.
When Drew landed on his head, his vertebrae thrust into his spinal cord, bruising it.
If it gets hit hard enough, the spinal cord does not regenerate. It does not heal. The cell bodies die. Ninety-nine percent of a spinal-cord injury occurs at the point of impact, said Dr. Thomas E. Balazy, Drew's doctor and the head of a nine-person team that cares for Drew at Craig Hospital.
Drew's genetics put him at more of a risk. His spinal column is more narrow than that of an average person. When his vertebrae was thrust into the spinal cord, it didn't have too far relatively, to travel.
Drew is considered a "C2" — meaning that the cord near the second cervical vertebrae is the last normal region.
Drew's future
• After vertebrae are reset by surgery, doctors can only wait to see how the cord heals.
"There's no medicine or surgery above and beyond this," Balazy says. "The person's genetics and how hard it was hit shows us over time how a person's going to improve."
Patients usually show signs of improvement eight or 12 weeks after the accident, Balazy says.
• Beyond the zone of partial preservation — the term used to describe the possibility of some function down the line — Drew's injury is categorized as "complete." That means that no specific region was spared the loss of voluntary movement and sensation.
How to help
•The Andrew Donnellan Recovery Fund has set up an account, numbered 2552379782, at Wells Fargo Bank. Donations are also accepted at:
P.O. Box 89173
Tucson, AZ, 85752-0173
•On Oct. 14, Drew's friends and family will hold a fundraiser featuring a dinner and a silent auction. For information, call Kate Muniz at 520-631-4026.
Links
•Drew was a drummer in a band called The Lemons. After the accident, the band wrote and recorded a song called
"For Drew." To hear the song, visit their myspace page at myspace.com/thelemonsmusic.
•Drew's family and friends host a chat room where Drew and his mom give updates to friends. To visit the chat room, go to http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/drew_d. |  | 
Slide Shows
Drew's Journey - Part 1
Drew's Journey - Part 2
Drew's Journey - Part 3
Life after paralysis
Audio
 Drew discusses how he felt about going out in public for the first time after his accident.
Drew's doctor, Dr. Thomas Balazy, discusses treatment of spinal-cord injury.
Drew's mother, Fran Donnellan, would change places with him to stop his discomfort.
Fran Donnellan says the experience is surreal.
Hear Drew Donnellan's coach, Yoichi Tomita, describe what happened immediately following Drew's accident.
Drew in competition
Behind the series
Patrick Finley met the Donnellans for the first time when he arrived at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., to chronicle Drew's recovery. He spent the next two months talking to friends, family and coaches in Tucson and across the country. He has been a sportswriter at the Star
since June 2005 and is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Star photographer Benjie Sanders was inspired to talk with the Donnellans after reading about the accident. Within days of the event, Sanders met with the family and began to document Drew's injury and the aftermath, including
traveling to Colorado. Sanders has worked at the Star for 36 years. He won the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors' award for the best photograph in the state in 2005. |
