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Published Sunday, February 12, 2012 in Local

Special

“He is making the most out of a bad situation,” said Pamela Deale, Tyler Rolison’s mom. “I can’t believe how happy he is … he stays in a good mood … He constantly makes me laugh, it just amazes me every day.”

Wreck victim: 'We expect him to walk out of Shepherd'

By John Winters

The Newnan Times-Herald

Tyler Rolison has three years to get ready to take up his friend's invitation to join him on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Commonly known as the AT, completing the 2,175 or so miles from Georgia to Maine is considered one of the toughest hikes in the country.

Hundreds of thousands dream about it -- of those, only 1,500 to 2,000 actually try it each year. Of those, only about 10 percent complete the five-to-seven month trek.

To join his friend, Rolison has as few things to complete beforehand, a checklist of sorts.

His goes something like this:

1. Dump this halo device keeping my head and neck immobilized.

2. Fix my broken neck.

3. Walk again.

In more than a half-dozen interviews, the word that came up the most was "miracle." The most used phrase, or some variation of it, was "he should not be alive."

* * *

On Dec. 29, 2011, Rolison left Newnan after spending time with his grandparents, Parks and Jo Avery, during the Christmas holidays.

He was on Interstate 85 in south Fulton County, heading toward Woodstock.

In a nutshell, a car in front of him started to change lanes into his lane. Rolison swerved to miss the car, overcorrected and his car flipped five times rolling off the interstate and ended up on the grass embankment.

Driving about 40 to 50 yards behind Rolison was Matt Lupo. He worked in Newnan for a utility company subcontractor and was headed home to Conway, South Carolina.

"I saw the car start rolling and I just started to hit the brakes," Lupo said. "I finally stopped about 20-25 yards past where he ended up."

Lupo ran back to Rolison's car and heard the 17-year-old calling out for help.

"When I first got there, I knew his neck was broken," Lupo recalled. "I started to check him for other injuries and it was a huge surprise because I didn't see anything else."

Another passerby who stopped gave Lupo a baby blanket, which he used to help stabilize Rolison's neck. Lupo turned off the ignition, disconnected the positive cable from the car battery and started checking for gas leaks.

"The top of the car was crushed down, there was no room to pull him out of the vehicle," Lupo said. "But there was no way I was going to watch this kid die from a fire."

Rolison started to go into shock and Lupo, a former U.S. Navy air crew survival specialist on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, relied on his training to stabilize Rolison.

"It was just instinct," Lupo said. "No one should have lived through that."

For his part, Rolison said simply, "If he wasn't there, I probably would be dead right now."

* * *

Rolison was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center. On Jan. 2 he was transferred to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, one of the premier spinal cord injury rehabilitation centers in the country.

He now wears that halo brace to keep his spine still.

"It is amazing he wasn't killed in that," said Jo Avery recently about her grandson. "We are just grateful he's alive."

Her husband, Parks Avery, simply shook his head in amazement during a recent interview.

"The kid is a fighter," Parks Avery said. "We expect him to walk out of Shepherd.

"All we can say is how much we appreciate all the support from our friends and our church (Central Baptist)," he added. "It has been overwhelming."

The overwhelming support has also been a huge help for Pamela Deale, Rolison's mom.

"Everyone has been so gracious... please thank Joel Richardson (pastor) and the Central Baptist Church family," she said.

Rolison is expected to remain an inpatient at Shepherd for two more months and then three more as a day patient living with his mom at the Shepherd apartment complex.

* * *

"I'm doing good," said Rolison, a student at Etowah High School. "There's been a lot of improvement... it gets easier."

His mom is amazed at her son's positive attitude.

"He is making the most out of a bad situation," Deale said. "I can't believe how happy he is... he stays in a good mood.

"He constantly makes me laugh, it just amazes me every day," she added. "Our next-door neighbor came by and even commented on how he doesn't know how Ty can be so happy."

Rolison and a couple of other teenagers at Shepherd are finding bubble wrap makes a good diversion, running over it with their wheelchairs. Parks Avery said his grandson was talking about decorating the Shepherd CEO's office with it.

Rolison is slowly, slowly, improving. He has feeling in his legs, but can't move them -- yet. He can move fingers and lift himself to transfer from his wheelchair to his bed.

The situation is not the same for Lupo and Deale, both who recently lost their jobs.

* * *

Spinal injuries are tricky. Some patients fully recover, some remain paralyzed for life, some gain partial use of particular limbs and not others.

"It's a tough recovery," Rolison said. "They are working on my shoulders because they don't know if I'll get my legs back, so they are really working on making my upper body strong."

But there's that invitation to hike the Appalachian Trail hanging out there.

Lupo turns 40 in three years. He's planning on a thru-hike to celebrate. He's invited Rolison to join him.

"Three years. That was my challenge to Tyler," Lupo said. "Get back on your feet and we'll do this together."

And that is the fourth item on Rolison's to-do list.

* * *

To follow Rolison's story, learn more and to donate, visit http://helphopelive.org . Type in Tyler Rolison's name in the box on the right side column.

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