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Article updated: 3/19/2013 8:18 AM

Not life he planned, but paralyzed Komosa made impact

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Rob Komosa was able to control his wheelchair by using a sip-n-puff device after the 1999 Rolling Meadows High School football accident that left him a quadriplegic. He died Saturday night at age 30.

JOHN STARKS | Staff Photographer, 2009

Gallery Image

Rob Komosa, left, a former Rolling Meadows High School football player paralyzed during practice in 1999, helps kick off a fundraising campaign for Rocky Clark of Robbins, who also was paralyzed as a result of an injury suffered while playing football.

Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

Snapped in a rare moment when he wasn't flashing his trademark grin, this photo shows Rob Komosa before the catastrophic injury that changed his life.

Daily Herald file photo

Sharing a special moment at her 2012 wedding, Rob Komosa gets a hug from his sister Ann Phister.

Courtesy of Komosa family

Celebrating his 30th and last birthday last summer, Rob Komosa gets a cake from his mother, Barbara Komosa.

Courtesy of Komosa family

About this Article

A couple of days before he died of respiratory failure, Rob Komosa talked about how he couldn't wait until science found a cure for his spinal injury. Then, he'd be able to trade in his wheelchair-accessible van. "Hopefully i get cured & instead of a new van, it can be a corvette," the former Rolling Meadows High football player wrote on Facebook.

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