An Editorial by Dustin Hicks
July 14, 2010

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 28^th 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.