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It
has taken me a while to write this
story. I have interviewed Ryan
Lambert on several occasions, but
every time I sat down to write this
story I would get scared. I was
afraid I wouldn't be able to convey
Ryan's story in a way that able
bodied people would understand. Like
everything I write for
SuperCentex.com, I put my heart and
soul into it so that the reader
"feels" the story and doesn't just
read words that are put together.
If
it's a football story, that's
easy. We all love football. If it's
a "feel good" story about a
community, that's simple because all
of us know what it feels like to
live in a community we are proud
of. This story is different.
As most of you know, my son Dax is
disabled. Unless you are disabled or
have a close family member who is
disabled, you would have a very hard
time understanding the
minute-to-minute obstacles one is
faced with when confined to a
wheelchair. To realize these
challenges for yourself, I ask you
to act as if you are living your
life in a wheelchair for a minimum
of 24 hours. Just stop before every
task you do no matter how big or
small and think about how you would
take on that task if you couldn't
walk. Think about all the help you
would need and think of all the
things you may be able to do on your
own. Consider that as you continue
to read this story about Ryan
Lambert.
In
the early morning hours of
May 28th 2009, La Vega
graduate and former right offensive
tackle Ryan Lambert had his whole
life changed in a blink of an
eye. While driving his car to school
to meet the Pirate track team for an
event, Ryan survived a nearly fatal
automobile accident that left him
paralyzed from the waist down. The
car wreck caused Ryan to sever his
Thoracic vertebrae in his spinal
cord at the
T5-T6 level.
Ryan
spent 2 months in the hospital
recovering from the injuries
sustained from the wreck with the
majority of those days at a TIRR
Memorial Hermann in Houston getting
ready for his new life as a
paraplegic. Much was to be learned
in such a short time as Ryan and his
family had to prepare for a whole
new array of obstacles they would
have to take on back in Waco. Ryan
still goes back to TIRR Memorial
Hermann for check ups as they are
one of the leading research
institutes in the country and are
following every new update on stem
cell research.
When
a spinal cord injury happens, the
first thing that comes to most minds
is the inability to walk. However,
there are many life threatening
complications that go along with the
injury. The most fatal complications
are changes to the respiratory
system. Every spinal cord injury is
not the same and the injured person
reacts to the injury differently.
Ryan
is thankful that his respiratory
status now seems to be normal, but
that wasn't always the case. His
respiratory endurance has gotten
stronger because of his commitment
to training hard during physical
therapy. Ryan understands that one
day of slacking can set him back in
the recovery process. His hard work
during therapy and the fact that
Ryan was a standout athlete before
his injury contribute to
his steady recovery. You can compare
the daily routine of a injured
person to that of an Olympic
athlete. Range of motion exercises,
stretching, weight bearing and
strenuous upper body workouts are
all a part of Ryan's life now.
Following his accident, Ryan's
own outlook on his future was not
always bright.
Like
all newly disabled people, there are
many stages of asking "why me" when
something so catastrophic
happens. When facing obstacles that
are new and seemingly impossible at
first, newly disabled people may
have many hopelessly desperate
thoughts run through their head.
"I
never attempted suicide, but I knew
that if I wanted to I could. I would
look at the bottle of sleeping pills
I had and say to myself I could do
it. What kept me from doing it was
knowing that I would be giving up. I
didn't want to give up. I especially
didn't want to give up on my mom."
Ryan
is far past those thoughts now. He
is a happy post grad who knows he
has a long productive life ahead of
him. For his first major challenge,
he wants to take on is driving
again.
Like
other disabled Americans, Ryan knows
how tough it can be to live life in
a chair, but he doesn't let that
stop him from living his life. Ryan
hangs out with his friends on
weekends, spends time with his
girlfriend and does other activities
such as playing basketball.
Ryan's mother, Pam Lambert is a
strong woman who not only had one
teenager to worry about, but Ryan's
two younger sisters and one older
brother to be there for. Everything
Ryan had to learn, Pam had to learn
too so that she can help Ryan. She
learned tasks such as how to help
Ryan transition from his wheelchair,
how to stretch him so his muscles
don't get too tight, how to position
him so he doesn't have any skin
breakdown, and most importantly how
to continually reassure Ryan that
everything is going to be alright.
There
are also legal issues Pam must deal
with to get the best care and
equipment for her son. I can assure
you that having a family member in a
wheelchair is not cheap and private
insurance won't cover most of the
expenses. Being creative is an
understatement when it comes to
finding a way to get the things a
disabled person needs just to
function on a daily basis. Special
home modifications, mobility
equipment, therapy and travel are
just a few new expenses that weren't
there before that morning in May
2009. The resources are not all in
one place either as it takes
diligence and research to find all
the help one needs to take care of a
family member who's newfound body
needs equipment just to function on
a day to day basis.
I
know how strong a parent has to be
when something like this happens to
their child. My son suffered a
C1-C2 spinal cord injury a year
prior to Ryan's injury. I had a 1
year jump start to know what it
takes to raise a child who is in a
chair. I know what it takes to do
this and when I met Pam Lambert over
a year ago, I knew she had what it
took as well. My feeling is that God
gives you only what you can handle
and Pam Lambert is handling this
because God knew she could.
"There's just not a whole lot of
things to do for people in
wheelchairs in Waco," says
Pam. "When he's in Houston he has
more options for activities he can
do, but when we come back home all
we can really do is hang out."
Pam
and Ryan want to change that. Ryan,
Pam and I hope that one day in the
Waco area there will be a "one stop
shop" to guide families of disabled
people in the right direction to get
questions answered if not answer the
questions directly. Our dream is to
form an organization to create
things for disabled Central
Texans. That plan will take off in
the coming months so that my son Dax
and Ryan will have their own fun
things to do alongside the hundreds
of disabled people who live in our
area.
Putting something like this together
isn't easy though. When Pam and Ryan
explain their ideas to people they
are all about helping with something
that seems so practical. However,
once it is time to put ideas into
action, the dust clears and we are
left back at square one. It all
starts with a dream and one day the
ideas will snowball and take off.
Hopefully, with help from the Waco
community it will happen.
Right
now Ryan takes part in physical and
occupational therapy at Camp Hope
Therapy group in Waco. From this
therapy Ryan has seen tons of
improvement in his strength, and
although there is no guarantee he
will ever be able to walk again,
that's something he strives for day
in and day out. With major research
being done by scientists and new
treatments being developed, the
future is bright for Ryan Lambert
because like other disabled
Americans, he is a fighter.
Not only will Ryan fight for his own
recovery, he
will
also fight to help other disabled
Central Texans. He will fight to
walk again just as he will fight to
make a difference to all who know
his story.
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