6DThe Daily Tar HeelMondav. Aueust 24. 1981
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Steve Streater vows victory
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Streater talks to therapist Madelyn Brinker before his release to go home
... over the months the two have become good friends
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but doctors are gloomy
By JpHN D RESCUER
DTH Staff Writer
Steve Streater's most triumphant return to his
hometown of Sylva didn't occur after a game
winning punt, tackle or interception, but after a
victory of a much larger and deeper type. On
Aug. 7, Streater wheeled himself out of Charlotte
Rehabilitation Hospital, flashed a smile and a
"No. 1" sign and headed home two months
ahead of schedule.
For Streater, the former UNC football star
paralyzed in a car accident on April 30, his stay
at the Charlotte hospital was the beginning of a
battle against paralysis and not only its effects on
the body, but perhaps more importantly, its ef
. fects on the soul. It is a battle fought on two dif
ferent fronts, a battle Streater refuses to lose.
In his two months at the hospital, Streater dis
played an enthusiastic determination to improve
his body and an endearing personality that made
him a favorite of both hospital personnel and
patients. The day before he left the hospital,
Streater was, as usual, in good spirits as he went
through his daily routine of therapy and counsel
ing designed to help him adjust to life in a wheel
chair. Streater, paralyzed from the chest down,
has good use of his-arms and shoulders. His
hands, although still improving, are the part of
his upper body most affected by the paralysis.
The accident which broke his sixth cervical
vertebra in effect, a broken neck leaves
doctors with little hope that Streater will walk
again. They say the odds of him walking again
are a million to one. Steve Streater says he is that
one. ,
"It might be a million to one but there is that
chance," Streater said. "I respect what they say
whether I'm going to walk or not but I will."
That determination isn't just a matter of
words. Streater worked hard and often in his two
month stay in Charlotte and has taken an upbeat
approach to his therapy. "I don't have time to
sit around and get down on myself," he said, his
fiancee Andree Wilson, a UNC junior fro i
Charlotte, sitting on his lap. "I've got a lot of
things to do, a lot of hard work to do."
Streater wants that hard work to lead him to
the goal that appears to be unattainable.
"I've only got one goal and that's to walk
again," he said. "After that there may be more
but I don't want to take it past there now. . . I've
made up my mind, I'm going to do it, whatever
it takes."
He has put no time schedule on that final goal.
He is taking life one day at a time, feeling the
improvement each day brings. He is bench press
ing 150 pounds now only a few weeks ago he
could do only 125 pounds. His improvement,
which has surprised even his therapists, has come
quickly. He realizes he will reach a point where
that improvement will slow, when each gain in
strength in his hands or arms will become more
and more difficult to acquire.
"I can tell each day that I'm getting stronger,"
he said. "The progress is there, I can feel it every
day. "The stronger I'm getting, the more I'll want
to do. But I think I'm in a limit. I think I need to
rest awhile, then start again."
has shown much improvement in his arms and
hands.
" Brinker and others who have worked with
Streater attribute much of his quicker-than-usual
improvement to his athletic past and his ability
to work hard. Even more importantly, though,
is Streater's attitude. Joking and laughing, dish
ing out one-liners and listening to them too,
Streater has a charismatic personality that draws
"It might be a million to one but there is that chance. I respect what
they (doctors) say whether I'm going to walk or not but I will.''
There's no rush, he said. He plans to attend
UNC this semester, move into an apartment
with friend and former teammate Tyress Brat
ton and finish up his last nine hours to get his
degree in education. After graduation, he wants
to stay in Chapel Hill and possibjy become a
high school football coach. ,
"I've thought about driving ; an 18-wheel
truck, too," he said with a laugh. "Just travel
ing across the country. And the marriage is on
the list. And play ball."
And play ball. The childhood dream of the
only player in Atlantic Coast Conference foot
ball history to be named all-conference at two
positions is still the dream of the quadriplegic
now sitting in a wheelchair. Only hours before
his car accident, he had signed a free agent con
tract with the Washington Redskins. Only hours
after he left the Charlotte hospital, the Redskins
opened their 1981 exhibition season.
"I've got all the time in the world," he said,
"I'm glad it happened to me when I was young."
Life is going to be a challenge.'' ..
Yes, life certainly will be a challenge. But
Streater seems to like challenges.
"We have one motivated young man on our
hands," said Madelyn Brinker, a therapist who
has worked closely with Streater and has be
come a friend. "He's really something."
He has shown rapid progress in some areas.
After having surgery in May on his neck to stab;
ilize the area, he was forced to wear a halo: a
cumbersome 25-pound stainless steel and plastic
brace that rose from his chest over his head and
kept him from moving his head. He hated it. But
he got it off two weeks earlier than expected,
then adjusted to his new center of gravity much
quicker than most patients. Even with the halo
on, he did things the therapists did not think he
could do. With it off, he is far more mobile and
One of the most difficult tasks
for Streater (left) so far has
been getting his chair in the
back seat of the car. With de
termination, in a little less than
30 minutes he had the chair in
the car.
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By KIM ADAMS -V
DTH Staff Writer V
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UNC baseball star Joe Reto is due to be
moved from intensive care and is in fair
condition according to a hospital spokes-
man. The All-Atlantic Coast Conference'
first baseman-designated hitter was para-'
lyzed July 26 in a traffic accident.
Reto underwent a tracheotomy almost
two weeks ago and team physician Dr.
Joseph DeWalt said that Reto was doing
fine in response to that operation. But,
right after the accident, doctors said that
Reto's chances of walking again were one
in a million and DeWalt said that that
prognosis still stands.
"Joe is never going to be a whole lot
betteras far as his paralysis goes (Reto is
paralyzed from his chest down)," DeWalt
said. JHis path will be almost the same as
Steve ktreatefs in that he will stay in the
hospital until he is able to be moved to a
rehabUiittion hospital. It is almost certain
that he is going to remain a paraplegic."
Assistant baseball coach Mark Scalf said
that Reto is "hanging in there" and that
the baseball team has gotten a lot of letters
and cards concerning Reto.
"A lot of people who didn't know Joe
have written us from all over the country,"
Scalf said. "They are just concerned about
him and interested in how he is doing."
Scalf saw RetO last Sunday and said
that he was in good spirits even though he
has a temporary loss of speech dye to the
tracheotomy. "They let him sit up in a
wheelchair when he wants to get out of
bed," Scalf said. "His family is staying in
town with another family and the players
are getting back into town so they are go
ing to see him."
The 20-year-old Brielle, N.J. native
suffered anterior subluxation of the sixth
cervical vertebra. Immediately after the
accident, Reto was in a coma but regain
ed consciousness a week later.
On July 28, doctors performed a sue-.
cessful operation to stabilize his neck in
the area of the fracture. "Slivers of bone
from his pelvis were wired to either side
of the spinal column in his neck, bridging
the area of the fracture," Broom said.
"This will eventually become fused to
the spinal column and give some stability
to the spinal column' he said.
Reto, a junior at UNC, was a first-team
All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection
as a designated hitter last spring. He was
a second-team selection at first base and
was the Tar Heels' leading hitter with a
.392 average, the fourth best single
season figure in school history. He also
hit 13 home tuns and drove in 46 runs.
His home run totals were the second high
est total ever at UNC. .
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Reto trots to home and offers a hand to coach Mike Roberts after home run
... homer was a thrill because it was against N.Y. Yankees in exhibition
DTH flte photo
people to him and then inspires them. Those
that know him, and even those who have just,
had some contact with him, realize that Steve
Streater has something inside of him that most
people just don't have.
"He's a very positive and optimistic person,"
Brinker said. "He inspires it in others toO. I've
seen him motivate other patients. He'll challenge
other patients to do their best. He is a leader. ,
"When you know somebody is giving his best,
it makes you want to give your best. We're go
ing to miss him."
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