A second chance

Beyond resilient and miraculous stands Jason David.

The broken bones heal, a family's heartbreak fades. A young man thrives.

Only nine months ago, none of it seemed possible.

"It's something I'll never forget," the Neuqua Valley senior said. "I remember everything that happened that day."

On a late afternoon last July 12, one horrific moment nearly ended David's life.

He and three Neuqua Valley teammates were headed to a summer baseball game at Kaneland High School in Maple Park when the SUV driven by Geoff Rowan was slammed in the passenger side by another car as Rowan's vehicle moved through an intersection near the school.

The impact proved so severe, the players' car flipped three times before settling back on its tires. Rowan, Jordan Williamson and Ryan Wagner emerged shaken up and bruised but overall unhurt.

David, who had been seated in the back passenger seat, lay on the ground unable to comprehend the damage done to his body as one of the tires rested atop his hand.

"Somehow I got thrown out the back of the car," David said. "I was laying on the ground, my back's killing me. And some huge guy is standing over me telling me not to get up."

In addition to the intense back pain, David couldn't move his neck. His right shoulder felt detached from the rest of his body. So much burned with agony, he barely noticed the nine broken ribs.

Ambulances arrived at the scene and all four teammates trekked to the hospital. While the other three were treated and released, David's fearful struggle was just beginning.

The best friend

Rowan and David began playing baseball together as 11-year-olds. They soon became best friends.

But, best friends or not, as the two shared that ambulance ride Rowan couldn't believe he had just helped lift a car off David's hand. The day turned more surreal for Rowan while watching David struggle to move with his broken back resting flat on a rock-hard board.

Then Jason David started acting like Jason David.

"One of the paramedics asked me what the pain was like on a scale from one to 10," David said. "I told him 'It's a seven … point two.'"

Rowan knew his friend would be OK.

"It was scary just knowing your best friend is hurt so bad," Rowan said. "But he was throwing jokes out and stuff. That's just him."

Rowan's emotions raced from shock and fear, to dread and guilt. Little could console his feelings about being the driver in an accident that nearly killed his friend.

The extensive trauma forced David to be airlifted from Mercy Hospital in Aurora to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

With David unable to undergo surgery because he needed to stabilize, Rowan visited his friend the day after the accident and continued battling his emotions.

"I was real upset that my best friend was in a hospital bed all torn up like that," Rowan said. "But I'd see him and we'd joke around. He actually ended up boosting my spirits."

The family

Injuries included a broken back, broken neck, broken shoulder and nine broken ribs.

Broken hearts, meanwhile, beat inside Jason's parents, John and Jane.

"We got the call and were told the boys were in an accident, but we thought it was minor," John David said. "And then it was clear it was more serious. It was really unknown. It just went on into several days."

John and Jane were on their way to the game when they received the phone call every parent dreads. What felt like an eternity in the car ended when they made it to Good Samaritan.

At first the doctors thought David might have a broken pelvis and could bleed to death. Upcoming surgeries posed the threat of paralysis.

Around every corner loomed worst-case scenarios. Slowly, though, David ticked through the multiple procedures aimed at healing his battered body.

First came shoulder surgery on his right throwing arm, where a plate was inserted to hold it together. Two days later, seven-hour surgery on his back required the delicate insertion of rods and screws as well as a bone graph to fuse his spine.

The next day doctors wanted David to get up and move around. He rose from his bed and began a long, uncertain quest for normalcy with baby steps.

"We learned a lot about him during that time," John David said. "He was a pretty courageous young man during all of this, and he never wanted to make it seem like he was hurting or struggling. I think he wanted all of us to feel better about it."

Twelve days in the hospital shifted to six weeks at home in a neck brace 24 hours a day.

"I didn't really like leaving the house because I thought I looked stupid wearing the brace," Jason said. "So I just kind of hung out at home."

As the therapy intensified, so did David's determination.

Despite the silent doubts of nearly everyone, he promised himself a return to baseball.

"We never thought for a second he'd play baseball again," John David said. "We thought it was out of the question."

The coach

Neuqua Valley baseball coach Robin Renner has a habit of treating his players like his own kids.

It's why July 12 remains painful in his memories.

"I've been so close with the entire David family, they're almost like my own family," he said. "That was a very hard day."

That day came on the heels of a remarkably joyous month.

In June Neuqua Valley reached the pinnacle of high school baseball by winning the Class AA state title. The players and coaches were kings of the community.

Suddenly, on a day seemingly similar to all others that summer, everything came crashing down.

Renner arrived at Kaneland's baseball field and was told a few of his players were involved in a minor traffic accident. Prior to the game Renner explained the situation to Kaneland coach Brian Aversa, who told Renner about an accident he saw near the school.

Renner drove to the site Aversa mentioned, but he couldn't get close to it. Too much traffic and too many emergency vehicles surrounded the scene.

"I came back and told Brian there's no way that's the same accident," Renner said. "Our guys were in a fender bender. This looked like life and death."

In the fourth inning Renner was jolted by the news David was being airlifted. He immediately left the game and headed to Downers Grove.

"I got to the hospital and was told it wasn't good," Renner said. "My heart just sank. Ten minutes went by after that, and they were some of the longest minutes of my life."

Jane David emerged to tell Renner the situation wasn't as dire as originally thought. He went in to visit with Jason who, like with Rowan, flashed that goofy style.

"He's lying there, he's alert and talking -- just being his silly self," Renner said. "At that point I felt a little better because he was acting like himself."

He felt better but realistic. Renner assumed David's baseball career was over.

The fastball that days earlier zipped near 90 mph was no more. The sole goal became rebuilding the body in hopes of living a near-normal life.

David, from the very start of the ordeal, knew better.

"I knew I'd play baseball again," he said. "There was never a doubt in my mind."

Regardless of the extent of the recovery, Renner decided a positive attitude like David's must be part of Neuqua Valley's 2008 baseball team.

"I didn't care if he could only walk, Jason David was going to be on our team," Renner said. "Whether or not he could play was irrelevant."

The baseball player

Six surgeries by the age of 18 make Jason David an unlucky sort of veteran. Hours before the car accident, he actually had his final physical therapy session on a surgically repaired elbow.

"That's why I say he's rubber," Rowan said. "He always bounces back from everything."

Months and milestones rapidly followed the accident. Between physical therapy and weight lifting, David worked out twice a day.

Regardless of the pain, inactivity wasn't an option in his drive toward a return to the baseball diamond. At home he lost the 20 pounds of fluid that built up in his body after the accident -- weight lost despite the thousands of cookies delivered to his home by well-wishers.

The neck brace came off three weeks before school began. There were times during class when it was too painful to hold a pen in his right hand, but he leaned on the experience following elbow surgery when he taught himself to write left-handed.

At the head of the line aiding David's recovery stood Rowan. By October the two were playing catch, and in the winter David began pitching again.

By the start of spring practice, he was swinging a bat.

"I told him that whenever he wanted to play catch, I'd be there," Rowan said. "I wanted to push him, just like he'd push me. I wanted him back out there."

He barely broke 80 mph with his pitches, but no one cared. Everyone was too amazed by the speedy recovery.

"All the pain and discomfort keeps getting better every day," he said. "Just getting that confidence back was a big part of it."

Neuqua Valley's opening day arrived on March 25 at Plainfield South. David took the mound as the Wildcats' starting pitcher.

He received a standing ovation.

David has since blasted home runs and pitched his first victory of the season last week against Lake Park with Rowan catching him.

"That was probably the best win we could have enjoyed as parents," John David said.

Every day David flashes the improbable before everyone's eyes. He proves hope is alive among the rods in his back and the plate in his shoulder.

For the best friend, the family, the coach and for everyone close to David, his nine-month journey remains an inspiration. It remains a miracle.

Broken bones heal, broken hearts mend and broken dreams recover.

A young man thrives.

"I definitely feel lucky to be alive," he said. "As much as time has flown by since then, I don't take a day for granted."