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This was printed last Wednesday 11/16. Let me know what you think! joerhea@joerhea.com


Sports



Paralysis benched
Mark Dewar, Sports Editor
November 16, 2006

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The six long, traumatic and unforgettable days Joe Rhea endured beginning on Sept. 11, 1984, have everything to do with the constant motion and passion for life this 36-year-old puts on display in his every waking moment and movement today.

During a football practice session at Indian Trail Junior High in Olathe, a then 14-year-old Rhea moved in from his defensive back position to make a tackle on a teammate at practice. It is the sort of hit this talented young athlete with a nose for the football had made many, many other times successfully.
Only this jarring hit would bring with it a horrifying result. Rhea lay motionless on the field after crashing into his teammate's thigh with the top of his helmet - an absolute no-no in the world of football do's and don'ts.
"I fractured my fourth and fifth vertebrae, and I also compressed my fifth vertebra and herniated my seventh," said Rhea, who asked of the personnel gathered to help him at the time, "Where are my arms?"
"That was the scariest moment I've ever had in my coaching career," said Jeff Meyers, then a first-year assistant at Indian Trails. Today Meyers is the veteran head football coach at Olathe East High School as well as the mayor of the city of Shawnee.
Paramedics took Rhea to Shawnee Mission Medical Center. He vomited with the news when doctors told him he had broken his neck.
The frightened teenager later would find some measure of solace in the fact his vertebrae had fractured in a vertical direction, saving his spine from additional horrors that might have resulted.
Whereas he had bruised his spinal cord, a severed, ripped or tear to the spinal cord would have paralyzed him for life.
His road back began when he lifted his left leg on the seventh day. The startling event following nearly a week as a quadriplegic that included the crushing sound of screws being placed into his skull in an attempt to immobilize his head, neck and spine and avoid further injury.
Today the 1988 Olathe South High School graduate, who attended the University of Kansas, faces a battery of daily aches and pains and an upper body with only limited function. (More on that below.) Still, Rhea has continued to live his life as an athlete, a fact proven by such feats as skiing double black ski slopes in Colorado.
"He's an amazing story," Meyers said.
But the Raytown resident's truest passion these days lies with working to keep others out of harm's way.
Rhea serves as the lead speaker for "Think First," a global non-profit organization that offers a local chapter at Research Hospital in Kansas City and teaches students in kindergarten through high school about brain and spinal cord safety.
Rhea also acts as moderator of the Young Traffic Offenders Program, (YTOP). This court-ordered program sends offenders ranging from age 16 into their 20's to a six-hour program that weaves through Research and provides a reality check of what can happen to the offender or a loved one upon doing something careless on the road.
His speaking engagements take him to points throughout the KC metropolitan area, and clearly from the positive feedback he receives at his Web site (www.joerhea.com), plenty of places well beyond.
The Sun caught up to Rhea, who is married to supportive wife Jennifer, somewhere in between his more than 100 stops a year as an inspirational speaker in demand to talk to him about his unbelievable recovery from the mishap that once threatened to sideline him for good.
Q. Dream scenario, Joe. You have the listening ear of every young football player in America. Tell America's wide-eyed kids how to make that tackle the right way.

A. With controlled rage. Look at what you are hitting every time, then drive your shoulder through the tackle and lay him out. Then help him up.

Q. Your message today is for people of all ages and extends far beyond your own miraculous recovery from temporary paralysis. You help others protect their own spinal cords from injury through "Think First" practices such as faithful seatbelt usage and relinquishing the wheel after drinking. Still, what does it do to your heart when you see that well-intentioned soccer mom driving along I-435 while talking on her cell phone ... and weaving?

A. It angers me. I want to be able to pull them over and let them know what I know - that kids die in car crashes more than any other cause of death at their age. I want them to get that getting from point A to point B is never guaranteed, so don't create more of an opportunity for that to happen.
Q. Thankfully most of us will never experience paralysis in our lifetimes. But what do we need to know most about that experience from the guy who has lived it?

A. That is like a death that you have to relive every day. To wake up and open your eyes and the first thought out of you brain is your spinal cord injury because you hurt physically, which then leads to emotional pain.

Q. We understand you are producing a book on your incredible life story. Is it on the market yet? If not, when do you expect it to hit bookstores?

A. I am currently writing my story, entitled "Why You Got Screws in Your Brains?" I am planning on finishing it by the new year. It's not easy, though, writing a book about yourself. I have to be honest, and there are things in my life that I am not proud of - behavioral issues mostly. I am hoping it will be in print by next year.
Q. Is there one most critical, central message you would like every single listener to your talks to hear and utilize?

A. Yes. It is to value life and believe they can accomplish the impossible.

Q. Olathe East coach Jeff Meyers, also the mayor of Shawnee, served among your assistant coaches at Indian Trail Junior High at the time of your accident and recalls you asking, "Where are my arms?" at the time of the tackle - and knew immediately things were not good. How did your life outlook change in that course of your six days of paralysis? There had to be a litany of things going on inside that 14-year-old boy's head during that stretch.

A. My outlook only intensified. When I asked, "Will I ever play football or baseball again?" I was told no. I was like, "what do you mean, no?" Call it denial, but I call it attitude. The right attitude. I was determined throughout the entire process of winning this battle. It was at night, though, when fear would enter, when I was alone and left by myself to sit and wonder. I think the fear was from not being able to move. It scares the hell out of you.

Q. On the seventh day you began to feel a bit and move again. Share with us your emotions at that very moment as best you can remember them.

A. Relief, an "I-told-you-so" kind of response in my head. My family was overwhelmed with emotions. Little did I know what I had in store for me, however. My spinal cord had been severely bruised and squeezed. My body had already started to atrophy and lose all of its muscle mass.

Q. The world came to appreciate in a large-scale way the delicate nature of our earthly existences on Sept. 11, 2001. But Joe Rhea came to that very same realization 17 years to the day earlier. What emotions stir inside you each time that date passes on the calendar?

A. A torrent of emotions, actually. But mostly I think about life now and how valuable it is. I think about how quickly life can change, in a split second, I am thankful for the awareness I have and the ability to appreciate it. But I would be lying if I didn't also tell you I feel anger, frustration and depression, too, because I am also reminded about the dark side of life. Which then again reminds me of why I do what I do.

Q. Are you a religious person? Were you a faith-based person prior to the accident, and are you today?
A. A lot of people make the assumption that I am a believer in God. A lot of them are thankful to God for my recovery. First and foremost, I do not blame God. I did this, not God. I am not a chosen one, nor am I special.

Q. A talented athlete as a boy, you dreamt of playing major league baseball like your idol, Frank White. Since that time you have gone on to live what appears to be a pretty big-league life in terms of helping others. Do you feel in hindsight that your accident happened for a reason? That is, have you been able to make peace with it?

A. Great question. Yes and no. I am not a believer in destiny. I think people create their own fates. They take what life throws at them, and some people weave floor mats, some people weave tapestries. It is up to you to make the most of your life. I am human, too. I still battle at times with my childhood dream of being a professional athlete, but that's not going to happen, so I've created a new dream and am making it happen.
Q. We understand you got to meet Frank White and share your story with him. Tell us how the two of you first became acquainted.

A. My mother worked for John Chezik (car dealership), and Frank White came in to lease a car. They started a friendship. He then one night magically showed up at my house in Olathe and had pizza with me. It was a boy's fantasy, but one that got even better. He went to my Cub Scout meeting with me! Imagine the look on all of the boys' and parents' faces when they saw Frank White. He signed every autograph, shook every hand and was proud to be my friend. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to be just like Frank White. I wanted to be able to make people feel like Frank White made me feel - amazing.

Q. Passionate sports fan that you have remained, have you had this experience? You are addressing a group of high-profile athletes and the fan in Joe Rhea thinks to himself, "Man, I can't believe I'm speaking to these people. A dream come true. This is really cool."

A. In Sept-ember I spoke to the Kansas Jay-hawks men's basketball team. They are my team, and I was honored to have Coach (Bill) Self contact me and ask me to speak to them. They were great. I am usually not that nervous when I speak anymore. That happens when you present over 100 times a year. But I was so nervous with them! I want them so badly to understand they have a chance at immortality. They have the talent, the team and the coach.

Q. While you appear the picture of health, there remain limitations. Among them, your right hand does not close properly and you cannot lift your arms above your head. Is there still much pain involved all these years later, and do you continue to receive treatment on a regular basis, or are you basically living through the aches and pains these days?

A. The picture of health is an illusion, I'm afraid. I try to remain as active as I can to keep my strength, but with the activity comes arthritis, tendinitis, joint pain, nerve pain. I am currently pondering surgery on my neck. It has progressively gotten worse, and I have been in a lot more pain lately.

Q. Your "Think First" speaking program is geared toward children kindergarten through high school protecting their spinal cords, while your "Bars, Cars and Catastrophes" program is aimed even more strongly at drinking and driving prevention. Can you share with us one helpful across-the-board tip regarding maintaining safety at any age?

A. That tip is to get rid of what I call the "Not-Me Syndrome," and believe that it can happen to you. Then simply to take that two seconds before anything you do and think first. It is a habit to get into that could save your life or the life of somebody you love.

Q. It is clear you are a man of inspirational quotes. We like the Joe Rhea quote you share on your Web site: "What we do in life echoes in eternity. How loud is your echo?" Share with us your favorite inspirational quote of all-time.

A. John Wooden once said, "Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."
Q. You tell audiences in your talks of a 1953 Yale study regarding the setting of goals. Kindly share.

A. Having goals in life in tantamount to success. But just having them isn't enough. It's a start, but writing them down is crucial. In '53, Yale took a survey of its graduating class and asked the question, "Who has taken the time to write down their goals?" Three percent had. Well, that three percent 20 years later had accomplished more than the entire other 97 percent combined. It speaks volumes on the importance of taking the time to write down your goals.

Q. You were told to be prepared for the fact you would never walk again. What has that experience done for you in days since in terms of dealing with life's small annoyances that touch us all - placed on hold on the phone too long, stuck in traffic, rude waiters, etc?

A. It has given me awareness of my life and I am reminded daily that there are worse things in life that bother me. Those things are what they are - small annoyances.

Q. As a man of vision and dreams, what is the next item on your list of goals for your programs? Where would you like to see your work head in, say, the next 15 years?

A. The evolution of my speaking career is what I have set as my goal. To constantly grow and learn to become the best possible presenter I can be. Which in turn will enable my audiences to better understand my messages.

Q. There is no question there is a movie in all of this to go with your book. When Hollywood produces the story of your life someday, who should play the role of Joe Rhea, and why?

A. That is hard to say, because it is a story over a lengthy period. But I have always thought I would be perfect for this role (laughing). Only I can truly convey what it is I go through. A little Sylvester Stallone-ish, I know, but what can say? I'm Italian.