Denogean: Community is with gymnast as he recovers
by Anne T. Denogean on Aug. 18, 2006, under Local
Gymnast Andrew Donnellan, shown in this file photo, is recovering after surgery Wednesday for an injury suffered in practice.
Coach Yoichi Tomita says, in the sport of gymnastics, you’re OK if you get up one more time than you fall.
The same is true in life.
Andrew Donnellan, a 16-year-old Tucson gymnast, suffered a paralyzing fall in May. But his is more than just a story of a tragic accident.
Today, as Andrew struggles toward recovery in a specialty hospital near Denver, many caring folks are working here at home to help this brave young man rise to the challenges his future holds.
They are organizing fundraisers, remodeling the Donnellan home and keeping Andrew and his mother, Fran Donnellan, in their prayers.
On May 12, Andrew, a Salpointe Catholic High School junior, was doing a routine single front flip at the midtown Gymnastics World when he over-rotated and landed on his head, said Tomita, Andrew’s coach and owner of the facility.
Tomita, who had felt blessed to never have an athlete suffer a serious spinal cord injury in 25 years of running a gym, immediately knew it was bad.
“I knew right away because there was quite a bit of force, and it made a sound,” he said.
Andrew underwent surgery at University Medical Center to fuse four vertebrae and was transferred to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., where he has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation for the past three months and is making slow but steady progress.
Even while Andrew was still at UMC, people began to ask how they might help. Fran Donnellan, who works as executive director of the Atria Campana del Rio retirement and assisted-living community, is a single mom.
As anyone who has ever suffered a major illness or injury knows, medical insurance won’t cover all of Andrew’s costs.
The “Andrew Donnellan Recovery Fund” was established and already holds $26,000, raised from donations, a potluck, a bowl-a-thon and other fundraisers.
Tomita sent an open letter to the national gymnastics community, which responded with $10,000 in donations.
Parents from Gymnastics World and Salpointe; members of St. Francis in the Foothills, where the Donnellans attend church; and the staff at Campana are planning a Mexican barbecue and silent auction Oct. 14 to raise more funds.
When Andrew comes home later this month, it will be to a remodeled home – complete with new bath – to accommodate a wheelchair. Local architect Martin Stickley donated his services, as did contractor Frank Sayne, who persuaded others to donate labor and materials.
What is it about Andrew that has inspired such an effort?
Sayne said anyone would be happy to have Andrew as a son.
He’s polite, intelligent and accomplished in his sport without being a show-off, Sayne said.
James Aiken, a Salpointe junior who recruited Andrew as drummer for a band called The Lemons, called Andrew “the ideal teenager.”
“I’ve never heard him cuss…. I’ve never heard him make fun of anybody,” James said. “He’s just very nice and very mature.”
Tomita said Andrew is “a quiet leader” who started life with the odds against him.
“He was left at the front door of the church hostel in Jamaica,” Tomita said. “Fran was there in the Peace Corps, and she went through a lot of red tape to adopt him.”
At about age 9, Andrew started at Tomita’s gym. Though built more like a footballer than your typical tumbler, he rose to become a Level 10 gymnast, the highest level in club gymnastics.
Earlier this year, Andrew competed in the Junior Olympic National Gymnastics Championships, finishing in the top half of 300 competitors, Tomita said.
With two years left as a Level 10 athlete, it was a promising showing and a tribute to his determination.
“It’s not like he’s the most gifted athlete,” Tomita said. “He is physically very strong, but … because he is so bulky, he has had to work on skills and technique maybe a little more than other people. But, you know, he has always met the challenge.”
That’s still true. Tomita has visited Andrew in Colorado twice.
“The first time … all he could do is breathe, and he couldn’t move anything. The amazing thing is, the second time I was there, he was moving both arms. The thing about him, like I told you, he has a quiet determination and dedication that is pretty amazing.”
Tomita said doctors aren’t predicting Andrew will walk again, but he believes Andrew’s recovery will surpass that of most people with similar injuries because of his excellent physical condition before the accident.
Tomita said Andrew’s attitude remains positive. He has bad moments, but never bad days.
“He always overcomes.”
The message from Tucson is, he won’t have to do it alone.
Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.
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Checks can be sent to:
Andrew Donnellan Recovery Fund
P.O. Box 89173
Tucson, AZ 85752
To purchase tickets to the Oct. 14 Mexican barbecue fundraiser or to donate items for the silent auction, call Kathleen Muniz at 631-4026.
